(DailyVantage.com) – Anti-immigration protesters in northern England broke into and set fire to two hotels being used as shelters for asylum seekers as the new Labour government grapples with the worst unrest the UK has seen in years.
The often violent protests throughout the north were triggered by the brutal stabbing attack at a party at a dance school in Southport, Merseyside on July 30 that left three young girls dead and eight others injured.
The deadly incident fueled pushback from locals angry over the UK’s immigration policies that have imported hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers from the Middle East and Central Asia.
The protests were met with overwhelming police force as riots spread throughout northwest England. Last Sunday, the rioters vandalized and set fire to two former Holiday Inn hotels used to house asylum seekers in Tamworth and Rotherham.
Protesters in Tamworth smashed the hotel windows, lit fires, and fought with police. One officer was injured in the melee. Meanwhile, protesters in Rotherham set fire to debris and smashed windows to get inside the hotel.
According to Assistant Chief Constable Lindsey Butterfield, the Rotherham shelter was occupied by asylum seekers and staff at the time of the attack.
Police made nearly 150 arrests over the weekend, prompting UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to condemn the violence and warn that rioters would be met with the full force of the law.
Starmer told reporters last Sunday that the protesters were singling out Muslim communities by attacking migrant shelters and mosques. He condemned the violence and “racist rhetoric” and described the demonstrations as “far-right thuggery.”
The Labour PM assured reporters that the protesters were not representative of the country but “marauding gangs” intent on breaking the law.
Dame Diana Johnson, the UK’s Minister of State for Policing told the BBC that the police were deploying a “nick them quick” response to the rioting so that the violent protesters were immediately taken off the streets to deter further unrest.
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