30 July At approximately 20:05
BST, hundreds of protesters gathered outside Southport Mosque chanting, "No surrender!" and "English till I die!" Within several minutes, protesters clashed with police. Protesters barricaded themselves and shouted "
Tommy Robinson", a far-right activist who founded the EDL. Robinson had been arrested and then released two days prior, before he fled the country, failing to appear at a
High Court hearing to which he had been summonsed for alleged
contempt of court. By 20:37, protesters began throwing objects at the mosque and police, leaving one officer injured. A police van was set alight as police deployed smoke canisters. Riot police cleared the area near the mosque by 21:14 and protesters began dispersing shortly after that as night fell. By 23:14, the riot had ended. The Merseyside Police Federation said that over fifty officers were injured at the Southport incident, with
North West Ambulance Service reporting that twenty-seven were hospitalised and twelve were discharged at the scene. Merseyside Police stated that eight officers were seriously injured and three police dogs were wounded. One man from
Standish was arrested on suspicion of possessing a bladed article. Police put in place a 24-hour
Section 60 Order giving officers further
stop-and-search authority, and a Section 34 Order, allowing police to direct people who are engaging in certain activities away from the area. Merseyside Police deployed additional officers after the riot, and ambulance resources remained. Concerns of further violence were echoed by Merseyside Police.
ITV News later reported that convicted member of banned
neo-Nazi group
National Action, Matthew Hankinson, had been one of the protesters.
31 July In London, the
Metropolitan Police established
public order conditions for a protest dubbed "Enough is Enough", The Metropolitan Police said that 111 people were arrested for offences including assaults on officers, possession of knives and offensive weapons and violent disorder. On the evening of 31 July, a group of approximately 40 demonstrators gathered outside a
Holiday Inn in the
Newton Heath area of
Manchester, which was purportedly housing
asylum seekers. Chants were heard of the group exclaiming "we want our country back", a phrase associated with far-right groups in the UK. Two people were arrested. Demonstrations also broke out in the County Durham town of
Hartlepool on the same evening. Objects including eggs and glass bottles were thrown at the police in response to the latter's riot shields. Several police officers were injured and a police car was set alight. Eight people were arrested. The organiser of a march in
Middlesbrough was arrested by Cleveland Police on suspicion of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
2 August On the evening of 2 August, protesters gathered in
Sunderland's Keel Square for a march around the city centre. Mounted officers from
Northumbria Police attended the demonstration along with officers in riot gear. Police and protesters clashed outside a mosque in St Mark's Road after some of the marchers attempted to approach the building. The protesters chanted "save our kids" and "we want our country back", as well as slogans in support of Tommy Robinson, and Islamophobic slurs. An
Uber taxi was burnt and shops looted. Sunderland Central police station was set alight, and trains to
Sunderland station were cancelled or diverted to
St Peter's. Four officers were hospitalised and 12 people were arrested.
3 August On 3 August, numerous far-right rallies and counter-protests occurred in England. In
Leeds, approximately 150 protesters chanted slogans such as "You're not English anymore", with around 250 counter-protesters chanting "Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here". In Manchester, 150 protesters took part in the "Enough is Enough" protest, while 350 locals turned out for the "Stop the Far Right" counter-protest. In
Nottingham, clashes were reported between opposing groups of protesters. In Liverpool, two groups who had been taking part in separate protests joined up at the Pier Head before moving on to The Strand and Church Street. Many shops were damaged and looted as Spellow Library, a community hub in
Walton was torched and wheelie bins set alight. A police officer was assaulted after being pushed off his motorbike and another hit in the head by a chair as protesters threw bottles, bricks and a flare at officers. 23 people were arrested in relation to the disorder as two police officers were hospitalised with a broken jaw and broken nose respectively. In
Stoke-on-Trent, a far-right march clashed with local counter-protest groups, primarily made up of Muslim men and youth, outside a local mosque, with missiles thrown at riot police. Three officers were injured and 10 people were arrested. Attendees of the nearby annual punk festival
Rebellion formed an
anti-fascist counter-protest leading to a stand-off in which chairs, bottles and planks of wood were thrown. Police reported there had also been "minor disruption" in
Blackburn and
Preston. where they clashed with counter-protesters who outnumbered them. Anti-racist protesters left Castle Park and linked arms with others in front of the Mercure Hotel after receiving information that far-right protesters might target the location, as it housed asylum seekers. The anti-racist protesters arrived at the hotel shortly before the far-right group and the police. The protesters faced violent attempts by the far-right to force their way through the protective line and into the hotel.
Avon and Somerset Police arrested 14 people in relation to the protests. A video circulated online of a mob of rioters surrounding and attacking an Asian man in his car saying the word "kill" while shouting racial slurs. Outside England, there were also protests and violence in
Belfast, Northern Ireland. Anti-immigration and anti-racism demonstrators faced off outside
Belfast City Hall and were kept apart by riot police. A firework was thrown toward the anti-racism demonstration. The anti-immigration protesters then attempted to march to the
Belfast Islamic Centre, but were blocked by police. Instead, they attacked several immigrant-owned businesses on Botanic Avenue. Violence continued in the
Sandy Row area that night, where a supermarket and a café owned by immigrants were burnt out. Cars were burned and missiles were thrown at police, injuring three officers. Four people were arrested for the violence. Elsewhere in Northern Ireland, the
M5 motorway was closed due to protest activity in
Newtownabbey, and there were protests in
Bangor and
Carrickfergus. In
Cardiff, reports of a planned far-right protest, which never materialised, led to an anti-racism demonstration. A woman was stabbed on King Street in
Stirling and there was online speculation from anti-Islam campaigner Tommy Robinson that the attacker was Muslim. In
Doncaster, a planned far-right protest was cancelled after only one person showed up.
4 August ,
Wath upon Dearne, the day following the riot In
Wath upon Dearne in the
Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, there were demonstrations by anti-immigration and anti-racism protesters, with the former outnumbering the latter. There was then rioting outside a
Holiday Inn Express hotel which had housed
asylum seekers, where mask-wearing anti-immigration demonstrators threw objects at the building, smashing a number of windows and attempting to set the building on fire with a bin full of flammable material. They were also heard to chant "Get them out". South Yorkshire Police reported that 51 officers, as well as police dogs and horses, were injured during the violence in Rotherham, where concrete blocks, chairs, fire extinguishers and tree branches were thrown at them.
Greater Manchester Police issued a Section 34 dispersal notice covering
Bolton. In
Middlesbrough rioters targeted houses and cars in a residential area, smashing windows. Multiple cars were set alight and burning wheelie bins were pushed at a line of police officers, who were also targeted by missiles.
Teesside University's Olympia Building had its windows broken, as did some houses and cars.
Cleveland Police said that a number of properties on Parliament Road and the Crown Court building were significantly damaged, and a total of 43 people were arrested in connection to the disorder. There was further rioting outside a second Holiday Inn Express hotel in
Tamworth, which had been housing asylum seekers. Objects were thrown at the building and at the police, one of whom was injured, windows were smashed and part of the building was set on fire. Three police dogs were injured, one of whom was hit in the head by a brick. In
Solihull, there was a large anti-immigrant protest in the town centre, which forced the closure of the
Touchwood shopping centre. Later, in the evening,
West Midlands Police were called to Hermitage Road, where they dispersed two groups of people who were outside The Hub mosque. Police stated they were investigating whether one of these groups may have been connected to an anti-racism protest that was held in
Birmingham city centre earlier that day. Protests also occurred in Hull and
Weymouth, with a counter-protest at the latter. A protest in
Sheffield led to one arrest for a public order offence, as well as a far-right protester being injured after he was attacked. Three people were arrested and two police officers injured during a protest in
Weymouth. Anti-racism protesters gathered in Cardiff following a far-right protest which had been planned, where they encountered some far-right demonstrators outside the
Senedd, though no conflict materialised.
5 August In
Birmingham, a large group of Muslim locals gathered around a mosque in anticipation of a far-right protest which was rumoured to be scheduled in the area. Individuals were observed keeping watch around the Village Islamic Centre, while nearby shops closed, a hospital sent staff home, and several doctors' surgeries also closed early preparing for potential violence. Several vehicles close to
Stechford police station were attacked amid the protest. A
Sky News crew was followed by a man in a balaclava wielding a knife who slashed their van's tyre. Before this, the Sky News broadcast from the scene was interrupted by a small group of these protesters, with one shouting "free Palestine" and "fuck the EDL". The
Birmingham Mail reported that video footage of the incident shows it starting with words being exchanged before one member of the group starts assaulting the man. Others then join in the beating while some try to break up the attack. Sky News' Midlands correspondent Becky Cotterill posted to X the next day that the manager of the pub had told her the man had goaded his attackers by using offensive language as they walked past. He was barred from the pub for "inciting violence." In
Plymouth, many businesses closed early, bus routes were diverted and a performance at the
Theatre Royal was cancelled as two protests were planned to take place in the city.
Plymouth City Council warned residents to stay away from the city centre as
Devon and Cornwall Police said they would be increasing their presence there. Police lined Royal Parade as the two groups of protesters – one anti-fascist and the other far-right – faced off, throwing items including glass and stones at each other as one woman on the anti-fascist side was injured by a flying item. As the protests continued into the night, bottles, bricks and fireworks were thrown and arrests were made. Three police officers were carried away from the scene after being injured, with a police van being damaged. Shortly before 10 p.m., Devon and Cornwall Police reported that 150 officers were deployed in the city centre. A
TK Maxx's shopfront was smashed and brick paving was torn up in the city centre. In a statement the police revealed that six arrests had been made relating to the disorder and 'several' officers were injured, as well as some members of the public, two of whom were hospitalised. Outside England, there was further violence in the
Sandy Row area of Belfast, Northern Ireland. A business was targeted for a second time, and armoured police
Land Rovers were attacked with
petrol bombs and bricks. Police fired two
plastic bullets at rioters in response. A man in his 50s was taken to hospital following a serious assault in which his attackers "stamped on his head" as other members of the public tried to shield him. Police were treating the attack as a racially motivated
hate crime. Assistant Chief Constable Melanie Jones of the
PSNI said there was
loyalist paramilitary involvement in the violence. Multiple Muslim graves in the
Burnley Cemetery were vandalized, which
Lancashire Police investigated as a hate crime. On 5 August, a list of at least 39 immigration law specialists, asylum support organisations and immigration services across England, originally published on the Telegram messaging app along with the phrase "no more immigration" and other anti-migration sentiment and widely circulated on social media, identified their addresses as targets for far-right demonstrations over the coming week. ==Aftermath==