Anti-immigration protests and riots in England entered a fifth day on Saturday, as hundreds of people surrounded a suspected migrant hotel in Rotherham, setting the building on fire and clashing with police.
Anti-immigration protesters descended on a Holiday Inn Express hotel in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, on Sunday afternoon as nationwide unrest continued following the murder of three British girls by a teenager believed to be of Rwandan descent at a children’s dance party in Southport.
The hotel has previously been the site of protests against hosting suspected asylum seekers – many of whom are probably illegal boat migrants – at taxpayer expense. according to To TelegraphThe crowd could be heard chanting, “Get them out!”
BREAKING: Anti-immigrant rioters smash doors of Holiday Inn hotel in Rotherham
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Footage posted on social media showed rioters throwing fire extinguishers and other objects at retreating police, as well as entering the hotel, which was partly set on fire.
Nationwide protests and riots broke out across the country on Saturday, many of them in working-class and Labour-backed areas such as Bristol, Liverpool and Manchester.
A chair is thrown at a police officer as trouble breaks out during an anti-immigration protest outside a Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, on Sunday, August 4, 2024. (Photo by Danny Lawson/PA Images via Getty Images)
Rotherham is a Labour stronghold. Are known Pakistan has come under international condemnation for its notorious child sex abuse ring scandal, in which at least 1,400 girls, some as young as nine, were sexually abused by a Pakistani child rape ring over a period of years, while local Labour Party councillors and other officials turned a blind eye to the abuse for fear of being seen as racist.
The protests are the first major crisis for the recently elected Labour chancellor, Sir Keir Starmer, who has faced intense criticism for failing to control the situation.
The continuing power vacuum has led to growing calls from the left for more radical responses, with Lord Walney, the government’s independent adviser on political violence, for example, suggesting coronavirus-style lockdown measures could be imposed to quell the unrest.
England in crisis: Starmer vows swift action against anti-immigration ‘extremists’, Government adviser backs Covid-style lockdown to prevent riotshttps://t.co/1UX3uFwa1G
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On Sunday, Scotland’s former First Minister Humza Yousaf suggested the government should send in the military to quell anti-immigration protesters.
“This genocide against Muslims and people of color will continue to claim lives unless we stop these far-right thugs,” he said. Said Following the riots at an immigrant hotel in Rotherham.
ROTHERHAM, ENGLAND – AUGUST 4: Riot police and anti-immigration protesters clash outside a Holiday Inn Express in Manvers that is being used as a refugee reception hotel in Rotherham, England on August 4, 2024. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
Senior Conservative leaders, including leadership candidate Priti Patel and former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, have also been calling on Starmer to convene Parliament from its summer recess.
“If the riots continue, and they seem likely, I think he will need to bring people back to explain what he’s doing,” Sir Ian said. Said Telegraph.
“It seems he’s not doing anything at the moment. It raises the question: what on earth is he doing? You really need to ask questions about the advice they’ve received.”
The honeymoon is over: UK PM Starmer’s net approval rating drops 16 pointshttps://t.co/qf8bCW1lwp
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