UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer strongly condemned an attack Sunday on a hotel housing asylum seekers that saw at least 10 police officers injured, one seriously, describing it as "far-right thuggery," as more violence broke out across the country in the wake of a stabbing rampage at a dance class that left three girls dead and many more wounded. In a statement from 10 Downing Street, the prime minister vowed that the authorities will "do whatever it takes to bring these thugs to justice" and that justice will be swift, the AP reports.
Starmer spoke after another day of far-right violence that was particularly acute in the north of England town of Rotherham, where police struggled to hold back hundreds of rioters who sought to break into a Holiday Inn Express being used as accommodation for asylum seekers. Before bringing the riot under some sort of control, police officers with shields had faced a barrage of missiles, including bits of wood, chairs, and fire extinguishers. Police said at least 10 officers were injured, including one who was left unconscious. "While it was a smaller number of those in attendance who chose to commit violence and destruction, those who simply stood on and watched remain absolutely complicit in this," said Assistant Chief Constable Lindsey Butterfield.
Far-right agitators have sought to take advantage of last week's stabbing attack by tapping into concerns about the scale of immigration in the UK, in particular the tens of thousands of migrants arriving in small boats from France across the English Channel. Tensions were also running high Sunday in the northeastern town of Middlesbrough, where some protesters broke free of a police guard. One group walked through a residential area smashing the windows of houses and cars, per the AP. Hundreds squared up to police with shields at the town's cenotaph, throwing bricks, cans, and pots at officers. When asked by a resident why they were breaking windows, one man replied, "Because we're English."
(More
United Kingdom stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
