Riots broke out in the English seaside town of Southport on Tuesday after the gruesome mass stabbing, allegedly by a migrant-heritage teen that left three children dead.
Merseyside Police announced that a “major incident” had been declared after riots saw 39 police officers injured, 27 of whom were hospitalised after violence erupted during a protest over the attack on a children’s ‘Taylor Swift’ dance party in Southport on Monday that left three young girls dead and a further ten people injured.
The force said that officers sustained bone fractures, lacerations, a suspected broken nose, and a concussion during the mayhem outside a local mosque, which saw people throw bricks, bottles, and other makeshift missiles at the police and law enforcement vehicles set on fire.
As a result, Merseyside Police put in place a 24-hour Section 60 Order to give officers the right to stop and search anyone in the area without the need to demonstrate a cause.
The force also instituted a Section 34 Order, which gives officers “the power to seize any item, including vehicles, used in the commission of anti-social behaviour”. It also allows for police to arrest anyone returning to the area who had been instructed by police to leave.
According to the local Liverpool Echo newspaper, police suspect that the riots were encouraged by the English Defence League (EDL), an organisation that has been disbanded for nearly a decade and whose founder, Tommy Robinson, left the country prior to this week’s attack. Many legacy media outlets and political figures characterised the protests on Tuesday as “far-right”.
Leading the condemnation was Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who pledged to bring down the “full force of the law” on those involved in the riots.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper branded the outbreak of violence as a “a total disgrace,” saying: “It is so appalling to now see those same police facing violent attacks from thugs on the streets who have no respect for a grieving community.”
But some were quick to note the difference in the Home Secretary’s tone following the Southport riots to during Roma riots in Leeds just five days earlier, in which she did not refer to the rioters as “thugs” but merely “individuals.” Lord Goldsmith, a former government minister, opined it was right to be strong on disorder but said Cooper’s statement “couldn’t contrast more starkly with Home Office Ministers’ reactions to the Manchester riots where violent thugs demanded instant justice ‘or else’ & where Ministers bent over backwards to explain that they ‘understood’ the anger.”
He asked: “Why has the Home Office response to these two events been so different? Can they not see how this feeds the narrative of a two tier approach and drives people to the far right? It is extraordinarily shortsighted and unwise”.
Others were very keen to see ulterior motives. Former Scottish First Minister, Humza Yousaf, said people who protest against the killings of children don’t actually care about children. He said: “Attacking mosques and chanting Islamaphobic abuse. Let’s not pretend the far-right care one jot about children murdered in Southport. These thugs are scum who are exploiting the killing of children for their own bigoted ends. This is what happens when you appease the far-right.”
Following the mass stabbing the day prior, Yousaf, Scotland’s first Muslim leader, said: “Simply awful. Our only response to the evil we witnessed in Southport yesterday should be an outpouring of grief for the children and adults killed in such a senseless attack. If you use such a horrific tragedy to fuel bigotry, then you are the worst of humanity.”