A number of riots have taken place across the UK in the past week, fueled by anti-immigration sentiment from the far-right. Plenty of vandalism and violence has occurred, with cars and buildings burnt, projectiles thrown at mosques, police attacked and hotels believed to be housing asylum seekers broken into. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer gave a televised address on Sunday (August 4) and warned those involved that they would "regret" taking part.
He said: "People in this country have a right to be safe, and yet we've seen Muslim communities targeted, attacks on mosques. "Other minority communities singled out, Nazi salutes in the street, attacks on the police, wanton violence alongside racist rhetoric, so no, I won't shy away from calling it what it is: far-right thuggery." But why have the riots taken place and why has it escalated as the week has gone on? Why have riots happened in the UK? The riots happened in the wake of the killing of three young girls at a dance studio in Southport on Monday (July 29).
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were killed and eight others were injured, some severely. Rumours emerged on social media claiming that the attacker was a man called Ali Al-Shakati who was a Muslim asylum seeker. However, this wasn't true, with the individual being identified as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana in court.
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