This past week has seen possibly the most widespread outbreak of far-right violence in the post-war period.
Over the weekend, the UK was rocked by a wave of startlingly violent far-right demonstrations in numerous towns and cities, at least seven of which descended into all-out riots.
Far-right actors capitalised on the horrific killing of three children in Southport, Merseyside last Monday, and the subsequent riot in the town, by calling a flurry of demonstrations across the country on a broad anti-migrant, anti-Muslim and anti-multiculturalism agenda.
What unfolded may be the worst wave of far-right violence in the UK post-war.
Mobs of thugs attacked police, fought with counter-protesters, hurled missiles, shouted far-right slogans, abused and physically attacked minoritised ethnic communities and, in some cases, set cars and buildings ablaze and engaged in opportunistic looting.
Many of the clips emerging from the bedlam are genuinely horrifying. In some cases, gangs of men set upon people on the basis of their skin colour, or else smashed, graffitied or set fire to their vehicles and shops.
Sunday 4 August witnessed two arson attempts on sites of temporary asylum accommodation. One was in Rotherham, where close to 1,000 protesters overwhelmed a seemingly ill-prepared South Yorkshire Police Force before pushing a wheelie bin inside and setting it alight. The other was in Tamworth, where a mob stormed a Holiday Inn and torched the hallway, and sprayed racist slogans such as “fuck p***s” and “get out England” on the building.
Social media was awash with documented evidence of violent racist attacks across the country, with heartbreaking accounts of both Muslim and immigrant communities sharing information on how to keep safe. Many false and unverified claims also circulated, feeding into the already febrile atmosphere.
In addition to Southport and Hartlepool earlier in the week, Rotherham, Sunderland, Hull, Stoke, Liverpool, Middlesbrough and Tamworth endured the worst of the violence, descending into appalling scenes of rioting and arson.
Bristol, too, saw ugly scenes as anti-fascists bravely positioned themselves between far-right thugs and the entrance to a hotel which was being used to temporarily house asylum seekers.
Elsewhere, other far-right demonstrations either failed to materialise or were dwarfed by antifascist counter-demonstrators. In the end, the far right were either heavily outnumbered or failed to show in: Cardiff, Doncaster, Wrexham, Swindon, Nottingham, Preston, Leicester, Torquay and High Wycombe, among others.
The dizzying array of offences committed over the weekend will take days to unpick. However, below is a brief overview of the worst of the disturbances, and some of the far-right figures involved. HOPE not hate will have more in the coming days.
The chaos kicked off on Friday night with a riot in Sunderland, where a mob of several hundred chanted far-right slogans and attempted to march to a mosque, only to be stopped by riot police. A brawl ensued and spiralled into wider violence. During the carnage, a car was set ablaze, and a Citizens Advice Bureau, which provides vital help for those in need, was torched.
In the mix were a number of hardcore nazis who had travelled into town for a Blood & Honour (B&H) gig the following evening. This includes the swastika-tattooed Craig Miller from Stoke-on-Trent, who was identified by HOPE not hate on Friday. We also identified Martin Hoggarth, a habitual public nuisance based in Sunderland who has over 100 criminal convictions to his name, as well as a history of far-right street activism.
Worse was to come. The following afternoon, in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, hundreds of far-right activists gathered. Chanting racist slogans, the group attempted to reach two local mosques and serious violence ensued with a group of Muslim men.
A false report that two men had been stabbed by local Muslims soon spread online, along with an image of a bloodied fascist who HOPE not hate can identify as Ash Morris (AKA Ash James), a former English Defence League (EDL) activist who has previously attended nazi events. The untrue rumour of the stabbings sent tensions skyrocketing everywhere.
In Hull, a truly appalling degree of violence broke out. The day began with a large static demonstration, before a mobilisation in the direction of a hotel identified as a site of temporary asylum accommodation. The situation soon spiralled out of control, with riot police battling mobs of young men.
A period of sustained rioting followed, as thugs and vandals roamed the street and constructed a barricade from car tyres and set it alight, filling the air with plumes of thick black smoke whilst a group of young men smashed up parked cars outside a garage. Soon afterwards, the same group set upon a car driven by a “foreigner” with some in the crowd shouting “kill them”, in an attack so savage it resembled an attempted lynching.
Later in the day, as police battled to regain control, fires were started and shops were looted along the High Street. Among those spotted in Hull was local John Honey. HOPE not hate can reveal that Honey attended an anti-migrant rally organised by Patriotic Alternative (PA), the UK’s most active fascist group, and another by Alek Yerbury, formerly of PA, in Hull last year.
Liverpool also saw grim scenes on Saturday that began with a rally in the city centre in the early afternoon and continued long into the night as rioters attempted to force their way to another pre-announced meeting point outside a mosque on County Road. An attempt to target a different mosque the night before had been successfully prevented by police and anti-fascists.
A large group of men attacked an Islamic leaflet stall in the city centre, overturning the tables and scattering the religious materials on display. As the group neared the mosque, numerous fireworks were launched at police, and a newly-built local library was set on fire.
Fights also broke out in Manchester, where the police eventually issued a dispersal order. Spotted in the mix was Stephen Walsh of Failsworth, a man who was convicted for his role in the Oldham riots and has a history of football hooliganism.
The violence on Sunday rivalled the previous day in its intensity. In Rotherham, a 700-1000 strong crowd, some accompanied by their small children – descended upon a branch of Holiday Inn which is used as a site of temporary asylum accommodation.
Quickly, events deteriorated as an outnumbered and clearly unsettled police mobilisation lost control of the situation, as protesters swarmed around the hotel and broke windows at will.
The situation escalated, however, after riot police were driven back from a hotel side entrance under a hail of missiles and other objects, leaving it exposed. A group of between 50-100 quickly set upon the unguarded side, smashing through the windows and dragging across a wheelie bin which was promptly filled, set alight and pushed into the hotel.
A barricade was then constructed in order to block the police from battling the fire inside the hotel. In all, this was a scene reminiscent of Rostock, Germany in 1992, when neo-Nazis tried to burn down an apartment block to drive out asylum seekers.
Tamworth, too, witnessed terrible scenes with acts of arson and intimidation at another Holiday Inn used as a temporary accommodation site. Here, a couple hundred far-right rioters – many in masks and intent on disorder – smashed windows and threw petrol bombs, causing a side entrance hallway to be scorched. Racist slogans like “fuck p***s” and “get out England” were sprayed on the wall of the hotel.
Thankfully, none of the occupants or staff in either Tamworth nor Rotherham appear to have been physically harmed.
Middlesbrough saw some of the grimmest scenes of Sunday, with a large crowd gathering before attacking police, setting up roadblocks and causing extensive damage to homes. One video showed a group of men stopping cars to check if the drivers were “white and English” before letting them through, while another showed a mob of young men apparently attacking homes at random in a multicultural area of the city, smashing windows as they passed down a street.
The horrendous scenes described above will likely prove extremely costly for anyone involved.
Much like the riot in Dover in 2016, the expected waves of arrests will cause problems for the broad far-right street movement in the long term. We should expect doors to continue to be kicked in across the country and perpetrators brought swiftly to justice.
However, in the immediate term, more disturbances are on the horizon. Many on the far right are buoyed by the events of the weekend and further activities are already in the pipeline, with several announced for 10 August including in: Belfast, Liverpool, Newcastle and Salford.
Moreover, a list has been circulating on Telegram of the addresses of asylum support organisations and immigration services around the county, coupled with flame emojis and a call to “mask up” for protests this coming Wednesday.
Anyone from this sector who is concerned they may be targeted should contact the authorities immediately.
The events of this week have emerged out of an existing climate of prejudice that has been fostered for years by elements of our media and supposedly mainstream politicians.
Be it the endless newspaper headlines demonising Muslims and asylum seekers, or Suella Braverman describing the arrival of desperate people by boats as an “invasion”, all have contributed to stoking the hatred that exploded into violence in recent days.
There has been talk of banning the EDL as a response to this upswing in racist violence. This would fail to be effective, not least because the EDL no longer exists. But more broadly, we will not ban our way out of this problem.
Yes, far-right individuals who have participated and encouraged this violence should face justice but, looking ahead, we need concerted work around societal cohesion and greater responsibility and accuracy by our media and politicians when discussing immigration, asylum seekers and the Muslim community.
It is a mistake to consider far-right politics as a tumour that hangs off our body politic; something that is separate and distinct. Instead, it is an infection within it, and one that can spread. Any effective response to the horrors of this past week must take this fact into account.
There are many, including media commentators like Matthew Goodwin, GB News contributors and major political figures, who have sought to frame this week of far-right riots as outpourings of “legitimate anger”. It is not. There is nothing “legitimate’” about trying to burn down a hotel with asylum seekers inside. There is nothing ‘legitimate’ about hurling bricks at mosques or attacking people of colour.
This is far-right violence, motivated by a climate of hate and prejudice, and all of those responsible – both offline and online – must be held accountable.
HOPE not hate exposes the individuals behind the disturbances and their links to far-right organisations and longstanding anti-migrant campaigns. The week of 29 July to…
