RIOTERS stormed a Holiday Inn housing asylum-seekers in Rotherham today and attempted to set it ablaze, marking the latest in a series of horrific far-right attacks.
Violence has escalated across the country after fascists seized on the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport to whip up hatred and incite riots.
Over 35 rallies supported by the far right took place across Britain and Northern Ireland at the weekend, with anti-fascists mobilising in opposition.
On Friday gangs burnt a Citizens’ Advice bureau to the ground and attacked a mosque in Sunderland after a rally held under the slogan “Enough is Enough.”
Unrest spread to Hull the following day where another hotel housing asylum-seekers was attacked while mobs looted shops on the high street.
In Liverpool, a library that serves one of the country’s most deprived communities was torched by youths in Walton.
The constituency’s MP Dan Carden condemned the “mindless violence,” saying that residents pulling together to support clean-up efforts “show our community at its best.”
He told the Star that such areas have “suffered most” from 14 years of cuts and long-term decline.
“Addressing the economic conditions that create fertile ground for division is crucial in order to bring people together, build communities resilient to hate and close down the spaces in which the far right can organise.”
It came after around 750 people attended a “Save Our Children” rally starting at Liverpool’s Pier Head which spiralled into violence.
Participants threw bottles and bricks as police divided them from counter-protesters.
Mobs were later seen smashing up a phone shop on the high street and attacking a stall offering free Korans.
The day started peacefully with a Stand Up to Racism rally at St George’s Hall attended by hundreds.
Speaking to the crowd, Liverpool West Derby MP Ian Byrne highlighted the role of years of austerity and the right-wing media, adding that the far right seized the chance to blame society’s ills on immigration.
He called on the rally to go into their communities and speak to people about why they’re listening to “silent voices” of hatred.
“We don’t demonise, we listen, we engage politically. We need mass engagement to tackle the misinformation head on.”
He lauded Imam Adam Kelwick for his “courage and humanity” in approaching those opposing his place of worship at a protest the night before which drew in a large counter-demonstration.
Mr Kelwick told the crowd how he spoke to one of the biggest agitators at the end of the night, and embraced him before inviting him inside the mosque.
“Maybe he wanted come and burn the mosque down. Well, we’ve burned their hatred down with our love,” he said to applause.
In Manchester, a counter-rally of around 350 people fiercely outnumbered the 150 who joined another “Enough is Enough” protest. Disorder also erupted in Nottingham and Bristol.
Many of the protests appear to be planned by locals plugged into decentralised far-right networks. Hope Not Hate notes that the protests’ shared slogans owe to the fact that organisers are often in overlapping online spaces.
Many protest announcements were shared by far-right figures such as English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson and members of Patriotic Alternative.
Mr Robinson was among the far-right figures who helped spread misinformation about the identity of the suspect who fatally stabbed three girls last week.
Lies circulated that the suspect, later identified as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana from Cardiff, was a migrant and Muslim and were seized on to ramp up hate.
Iman Atta, director of Tell Mama, which monitors anti-Muslim incidents, told BBC Radio 4 that people are “scared to go to their mosques” and that there have been “many” reports of Muslim women being targeted.
The Home Office announced today mosques will now be given greater protection with a new “emergency security.”
Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said the unrest must be “a wake-up call to all politicians who have actively promoted or given in” to anti-immigration rhetoric.
NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede said the atmosphere in Britain is “terrifying” as videos circulate on social media showing black and Asian people being assaulted.
He wrote on X: “This is a trade union issue, our response must be collective.”
