Opinion | Britain On The Boil: What's Behind The Street Riots Sweeping Across UK?

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has had a baptism by fire. Just a month ago, his Labour Party came to power after a long 14-year hiatus. But already, Starmer is staring at a Britain caught in turmoil. Major towns and cities across the UK are seeing mass outbreaks of anti-immigration and Islamophobic violence. 

Criticism is mounting that Starmer was slow to act in the first few days when the tensions erupted. So far, nearly 400 rioters have been arrested. And unsurprisingly, given his legal background, Starmer is threatening to take legal action against those stoking violence online and on the streets.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk further stirred the situation by suggesting online that a civil war in Britain looked inevitable - a comment condemned heavily by the Labour government for being "irresponsible" and inciting violence. 

What Led To The Protests

More than a week ago, three girls under the age of 10 were brutally stabbed to death while attending a dance event in the peaceful coastal town of Stockport, near Liverpool. Ten others were wounded in the attack. A 17-year-old boy, Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, was arrested and charged with murder. His identity was initially withheld due to legal reasons (under British law, suspects under 18 cannot be named) until a court in Liverpool allowed the media to disclose it.

By then, however, violent protests had already spread across several towns, fuelled by social media rumours that the boy was Muslim and came to England "by boat" in 2023 - an implication that he was an illegal immigrant or an asylum seeker. No matter the fact that in reality, the boy is not Muslim and was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents.

Violence has now spread to more than a dozen towns and cities in Britain. Except for Belfast, all the affected cities are in England, mostly in the economically weaker north, where unemployment is higher than in the south.

Who Are the Rioters?

Several prominent far-right figures have been actively posting messages on social media. Tommy Robinson (aka Stephen Yaxley-Lennon), a well-known far-right and anti-Muslim activist who founded the now-defunct English Defence League (EDL) in 2009, has posted several videos online that have amassed hundreds of thousands of views and have been shared by right-wing outlets worldwide. A common anti-Muslim narrative with comments like "innocent English people being hunted down" and "our women are not halal meat" marks Robinson's online posts.

A few days after the Southport attack, Robinson posted a video asking his followers to stay calm, asserting that he condemned the violence. But a few far-right popular figures had by then already started baying for violence, with tweets like "it's war" and "for decades British girls have been raped by immigrant barbarians". These posts got over three million views in total.

The police said a vigil in Stockport was hijacked by right-wing extremists. They believe the protesters coordinated on WhatsApp and Telegram to organise protests in various towns and targeted mosques, shops, and hotels housing asylum seekers, especially in Rotherham and Tamworth. Starmer himself has termed the riots "far-right thuggery". 

Far-Right Grievances

The ongoing violence cannot be attributed solely to far-right inflammatory comments on social media. There is deep-rooted resentment in the country against immigration, particularly illegal immigration. The Stockport stabbings may have triggered these pent-up frustrations.

Far-right groups argue that the UK is experiencing uncontrolled immigration, which has overwhelmed public services, the housing infrastructure, and the welfare system. Nearly every day, small boats full of migrants cross the channel and enter the UK. The Tory government was unable to control this. According to the Home Office website, more than 570 migrants have arrived in the UK on 11 small boats since the protests erupted following the Stockport stabbings. These migrants seek asylum and are housed in hotels across the country. 

Not all protesters have links to far-right groups. Many resent that asylum seekers are given four-star hotels and money for their daily needs, while local youth struggle and live in poverty. Far-right activists often assert that immigrants take jobs from native Britons and undercut British workers, leading to unemployment and wage stagnation.

Musk Jibe Against the UK

Musk is not alone in criticising Britain. Donald Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance, went so far as to say that Britain would become an Islamist country. He stated, "... and I was talking about, you know, what is the first truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon, and we were like, maybe it's Iran, you know, maybe Pakistan already kind of counts, and then we finally decided maybe it's actually the UK, since Labour just took over."

Vance echoed the fears of far-right people in the UK, who believe Muslims in the country want to establish Sharia law. They loathe the perceived failure of immigrants, particularly Muslims, to integrate into British society. Far-right activists argue that this leads to the formation of isolated communities with different cultural norms, undermining British values and social cohesion. They fear that Britain is becoming an Islamic country, claiming that increasing Muslim populations threaten the traditional British way of life.

Far-right groups link immigration, especially illegal immigration, to increased crime and terrorism, suggesting that more immigrants from Muslim-majority countries increase the risk of terrorist attacks and crime rates. To support their claims, they cite examples like the 2005 London terror attacks and British Muslim men and women joining jihadist movements in Iraq and Syria. These narratives are amplified through social media and far-right media outlets, which use inflammatory language to rally support and provoke strong emotional reactions.

Far-right activists also accuse the police of "two-tier policing" and the media of "two-tier coverage", believing they are treated more harshly than other protesters, such as the recent pro-Gaza protesters.
The Starmer government has not yet organised meetings between various groups or talked to the protesters. For example, during the Hindu-Muslim riots in Leicester two years ago, all-faith meetings were organised to stem the violence and instil confidence among communities.

As street violence continues, Keir Starmer's new government's honeymoon period is well and truly over. His month-old Prime Ministership will be judged on how he handles the ongoing crisis.

(Syed Zubair Ahmed is a London-based senior Indian journalist with three decades of experience with the Western media)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author