UK riots: Anti-racist protests across Britain as far right stays at home

'Moving' rallies hailed as crowds gathered outside mosques and immigration offices where violence was expected

A Palestinian flag is waved during an anti-racism rally assembled to counter an anti-immigration protest in Walthamstow, London. Getty Images

Anti-racist protesters gather outside the Merseyside Refugee Centre in Liverpool. EPA

People attend a counter demonstration against an anti-immigration protest called by far-right activists in Westcliff, near Southend-on-Sea. AFP

Anti-racism counter protesters chant in Walthamstow. Getty Images

Mounted police patrol in Preston. Getty Images

Anti-racism protesters in Newcastle upon Tyne. Getty Images

Rumours of a far-right rally draw anti-racism activists in Brentford, West London. Getty Images

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - AUGUST 7: An anti-racist demonstrators gather outside Merseyside Refugee Centre to counter the planned anti-immigration protest on August 7, 2024 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. A series of anti-immigrant protests and riots have swept the country in the week after a deadly knife attack in Southport, England, fuelled by false rumours that the suspect was an asylum seeker. In recent days, far-right groups on social media have circulated a list of more than 30 anti-immigration protests scheduled for tonight at asylum centres and immigration firms across the UK. It was unclear how many locations would attract sizeable crowds; in many locations, the group "Stand Up To Racism" had organised counterprotests ahead of the planned protests. (Photo by Ryan Jenkinson / Getty Images)

Sheffield anti-racism protesters assemble in the city centre. Getty Images

A man with a bullhorn and keffiyeh joins other residents outside the Merseyside Refugee Centre in Liverpool. Getty Images

Anti-rascism protesters in Sheffield. Getty Images

A group of Muslim residents rally outside the Waltham Forest Immigration Bureau offices in Walthamstow. AFP

Residents join the Muslim community to protest against an anti-immigration rally in Liverpool. Reuters

Anti-racist demonstrations sprang up across Britain on Wednesday night, in a show of solidarity with Muslims and immigrants after days of far-right unrest.

Protesters with signs reading "Refugees welcome" and "Stop the far right" rallied outside mosques and immigration offices where racist violence had been expected.

Speaking on Thursday morning, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said fears of further violent disorder were "abated" thanks to a "show of force" from police.

He told BBC Radio: "We put thousands of officers on the streets and I think the show of force from the police and, frankly, the show of unity from communities together defeated the challenges that we've seen."

Raids were carried out on Thursday morning targeting the worst offenders, he said.

"The people who were most violent in the Whitehall protests and violence last week ... about 70 per cent of them have got criminal backgrounds," added Mr Rowley.

In London, police made 15 arrests, including 10 in Croydon for offences including assault on an emergency worker, breaching a section 35 dispersal order, going equipped for arson and violent disorder. The force said the arrests were not related to any protests, but that a "small group" were "intent on causing trouble".

Thousands turned out in London, Sheffield, Newcastle and other towns and cities, as the far right failed to gather in large numbers on a mostly peaceful night.

Speaking on a visit to a mosque in Solihull on Thursday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed no "let up" in moves to prevent further far-right riots across England.

"It's important that we don't let up here," he said, after meeting community leaders in the town.

After a week of violent clashes and criminal damage across the country, shops and offices had been boarded up in anticipation of hostility in London and police held crisis talks with Muslim and Jewish groups.

More than 100 far right gatherings had been planned but in towns and cities including Sheffield, Birmingham and Middlesbrough, no right-wing protesters arrived at the time expected.

It remains to be seen whether the far right will regroup in the coming days, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed the first prison sentences handed out for the disorder.

MPs including Britain's Minister for the Middle East praised the counter-protests, as the UK looks to get a hold on its worst riots since 2011.

Tempers flared in a few places. Police separated opposing groups in Aldershot after one crowd chanted "stop the boats".

A man was detained for racial slurs in Newcastle and a crowd cheered as another man was led away in Finchley.

There were anti-Semitism concerns in north London after one counter-protest group called a rally to "get fascists, racists, Nazis, Zionists and Islamophobes out of Finchley".

"Whether it’s the far right or far left, there can be zero tolerance for anti-Semitism, Islamophobia or racism in any form," said Solicitor General Sarah Sackman, who hosted talks with Muslim and Jewish groups earlier in the day.

In Liverpool, close to where the unrest began after three young girls were killed in a knife attack, supporters of the charity Asylum Link filled a street after reports of far-right threats.

Crowds assembled outside a solicitor's office in Southend and an immigration centre in Newcastle after a list circulated online of possible far-right targets.

England and Wales's chief prosecutor Stephen Parkinson warned that publishing the names of law firms as potential targets could be considered a terrorism offence.

“The fact that it’s organised groups that might be motivated by ideological reasons, the fact that they’re promoting potentially very serious offences – that’s the sort of instance where we might want to consider terrorism charges," Mr Parkinson said.

Aerial images of a rally in Walthamstow, East London, were widely hailed after more than 100 police had been drafted in to deal with possible unrest.

"The counter-protests in Walthamstow and across the country tonight have been incredibly moving to see," said one East London MP, Labour's Jas Athwal.

Hamish Falconer, the Middle East Minister, joined a group outside a mosque in Lincoln.

"I’m glad to be with friends at the mosque tonight," Mr Falconer said. "Thank you to everyone for all their support for our Muslim community."

In Oxford, one group reported that local Muslim taxi drivers were ferrying counter-protesters around for free.

Protesters in Sheffield chanted: "Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here."

Police remain on alert for the far right to return to the streets in the days ahead, as ministers look to the justice system to make an example of rioters.

Mr Starmer praised the first prison sentences handed out on Wednesday, to three men who pleaded guilty to violent disorder in Liverpool.

The sentences were "the tip of the iceberg, and just the start of what will be a very painful process for many who foolishly chose to involve themselves in violent unrest", said prosecutor Sarah Hammond.

But one assistant chief constable said riot police are likely to remain on standby for the weekend "and beyond".

Britain prepares for riots - in pictures

Police will continue to be posted until "the end of the disgusting scenes that we’re seeing across the country", said Mark Williams, of a national police co-ordination centre.

With police numbers relatively low, British Muslims had been urged by the head of safety charity Tell Mama not to take on the far right in counter-protests.

“This will stretch the police’s work safeguarding communities, because then they'll have more to do than actually deal with one side," said Iman Atta, who attended the solicitor general's talks.

Police had used the meeting to share plans for protecting mosques and synagogues as well as emergency contact numbers if riots began unexpectedly.

Emergency evacuation drills took place in shopping centres in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, while police surrounded a Holiday Inn Express in Sheffield, days after an asylum seeker hotel was attacked by 700 rioters.

It was also reported that far-right Nordic groups, mainly from Norway and Sweden, have been encouraging racist groups in Britain to take to the streets.