A 43-year-old female owner of a moving company, a 69-year-old pensioner and a 14-year-old son. According to the information provided by the police, they are all arrested in the British riots.
The rioters do not consider themselves representatives of the extreme right, says a British researcher.
– These people would not describe themselves as extreme right-wingers or racists. And they themselves are not that, but they have been fed xenophobic rubbish, working at the University of East London Ruwan Uduwerage-Perera says.
He has a 25-year career in the police behind him.
According to Uduwerage-Perera, the reason behind the rioting is, among other things, that the population in Britain has been hearing messages of intolerance and hatred from provocateurs and some politicians for years.
According to him, an extreme right-wing core is present in the riots.
– If you look at this hard core, they are poorly educated, working class and have poor prospects in life.
As a result of the riots that began after the Southport stabbings, there have been many prosecutions. More than 400 people have been arrested in Britain and Northern Ireland. The number is expected to grow in the coming days.
The rioters are a kind of foot soldiers, with intelligent people behind them to guide and provoke them, says Uduwerage-Perera.
Right-wing populist Farage is accused of incitement
In connection with the riots, known as a staunch opponent of Islam and immigration Tommy Robinson and leader of the right-wing populist Reform UK party Nigel Farage is accused for inciting violence with his statements.
– Tommy Robinson has no formal education, but he is intelligent and charismatic. Nigel Farage is also intelligent and even more charismatic, says Ruwan Uduwerage-Perera.
Uduwerage-Perera has looked at previous clashes that escalated into race riots, such as last year 2001 Bradford riots. He finds common features among the participants in this type of riots, and the background is, among other things, poverty.
– The people participating in the riots are mainly from the lower class, who have been deprived of all social services. They live in miserable neighborhoods and have no hope in their lives.
– At the same time, these people have been told a story in which “others” are to blame for their poverty and plight.
Uduwerage-Perera adds that all governments for decades are responsible for the hopelessness of the people.
In his opinion, the “others” are currently Muslims, but throughout history Jews and Afro-Caribbeans have also played the role of culprits.
Alongside the rioting there is also a more peaceful reality, see Kirsi Crowley’s report from Southport here:
False information spread quickly
For legal reasons, the police could not say immediately after the crime happened who the minor perpetrator of the Southport stabbings was.
Instead, X, formerly Twitter, quickly spread a false story that the perpetrator was a Muslim asylum seeker who arrived in the country last year.
Apparently the first post, in which the author was given a made-up name and background, has been removed from X following extremism and disinformation According to the ISD organization.
News from the British Channel 4 TV channel by the message that was among the first was sent from an account run by an entrepreneur known for her opposition to the corona restrictions.
Misinformation quickly spread on the messaging service X and Tiktok, among others, just hours after the stabbings.
According to Sky News the post from the entrepreneur’s account received 1.5 million views. Another post containing false information had been viewed nearly four million times.
Misinformation and hate messages were also spread from many other accounts. The police is, among other things arrested the spouse of a conservative politicianwho called for the burning of hotels where asylum seekers have been accommodated.
According to ISD, the invented name of the attacker was also among the recommended topics in X.
Later it turned out that the perpetrator of the stabbing is a 17-year-old boy born in Britain, whose parents are from Rwanda. But then the riots were already in full swing.
“The government does not understand”
Nigel Farage participated in the initial discussion for example by asking “if the authorities are hiding something”.
Farage has condemned the riots as such. In his opinion the Prime Minister representing the Labor Party Keir Starmer does not understand the growing discontent and immigration problems in the country.
Tommy Robinson’s messages are more straightforward, and he characterizes Islam as a mental health problem, and it is encouraged those participating in the riots.
Uduwerage-Perera, says the victims of the Southport stabbing have now been forgotten and they were the pretext for the unrest anyway.
– After the stabbings, the populists immediately wanted to know the perpetrator’s religion and ethnic background, because they needed an excuse.
Some of the protests have been peaceful.
Uduwerage-Perera is convinced that many protesters, especially older people, want to express their concerns peacefully. According to him, the problem is the groups for whom the Southport tragedy is just an excuse to cause a disturbance and promote a racist agenda.
And there could be worse to come.
Counter-protesters on the move
There is an urgent need to end the unrest now, because the danger is violent clashes between opposing groups.
– The opposite party also sets off. For example, there will be backlash around mosques. This is not acceptable and the victims also become perpetrators of the crime, Ruwan Uduwerage-Perera describes the situation.
Counter-protesters gathered near a local mosque in Birmingham on Monday. The police are suspicious some of them for damaging and assaulting a pub. One person has been arrested.
According to the police, the group had come there because there were rumors that a far-right demonstration was about to start in the area.
In south west English Plymouth police made efforts to keep anti-immigration and counter-protesters apart.
– We only have a few days. If the situation is not calmed down quickly, people will die. And that would be a new spark, says Ruwan Uduwerage-Perera.