From 30 July to 5 August 2024, far-right anti-immigration protests and riots occurred in England and Northern Ireland, within the United Kingdom, following the 2024 Southport stabbings, a targeted stabbing attack on 29 July 2024 at a dance class in Southport, England, which resulted in the deaths of three young girls. The riots took place amid false claims circulated by far-right groups, that the perpetrator of the attack was a Muslim and an asylum seeker, in addition to broader Islamophobic, racist, and anti-immigrant sentiments. The disorder, which involved racist attacks, arson and looting, was the largest incident of social unrest in England since 2011. By 8 August, at least 177 individuals had been imprisoned in connection to the unrest, with sentences averaging around two years and ranging up to nine years. The following month, 1,280 arrests and nearly 800 charges had been made; as of July 2025, the numbers of arrests and charges stood at 1,840 and 1,103, respectively.
The race riots began in Southport, just a few streets away from where the attack took place. A demonstration outside the Southport Mosque quickly turned violent and protesters attacked police officers, injuring over fifty, burned a police van, and attacked the mosque. Over the following days the unrest spread to other towns and cities in England and to Belfast in Northern Ireland. On 31 July, over 100 protesters were arrested in London, and demonstrations occurred in Manchester, Hartlepool, and Aldershot. On 2 August, rioting took place in Sunderland, where a Citizens Advice bureau was set on fire and police officers were injured and several people were arrested. The most severe rioting took place over the weekend of 3–4 August, when anti-immigration protesters clashed with police and counter-protesters, attacked homes and businesses owned by immigrants, and attacked hotels housing asylum seekers. From 6 August the unrest began to abate; counter-protests consistently and considerably outnumbered far-right protesters, and were followed by large anti-racist rallies across the country on 7 August.
The riots had limited formal organisation; instead, rioters assembled around individual far-right social media personalities with the aid of far-right Telegram group chats affiliated with Active Club England, the terrorgram network, and football hooliganism firms. Groups involved in the riots included supporters of the defunct Islamophobic group English Defence League (EDL), including its former leader Tommy Robinson, members of the neo-Nazi hate group Patriotic Alternative, and the fascist political party Britain First. The riots were also supported by the neo-Nazi organisation British Movement and the far-right political party National Front. Rioters clashed with local Muslims and counter-protesters, who were mobilised by Stand Up to Racism and other anti-fascist and anti-racist groups.
Background
On 29 July 2024 a knife attack took place at a Taylor Swift-themed children's yoga and dance workshop. Three children were killed and eight other children were injured, with five of them in critical condition. Two adults at the event were also critically injured.
Following the stabbing, the police said the name being circulated online was not that of the suspected attacker. Misinformation and disinformation, including false claims about the suspect's identity, nationality, religion and immigration status, were circulated on social media by high-profile far-right accounts, including by Tommy Robinson, a far-right activist who founded the now-disbanded anti-Islam English Defence League (EDL) in 2009. The false claim that the perpetrator was named "Ali Al-Shakati" is believed to have originated from the X (formerly Twitter) account of an anti-lockdown campaigner and gained a greater audience when repeated by the website Channel3Now, a website known for spreading fake news. Russia was accused of being behind a deliberate disinformation campaign. The National Crime Agency and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology later investigated these claims.
A newly created Southport-themed Telegram group became inundated with misinformation, including from the far-right National Front, prior to dissemination on social media platforms. The Institute for Strategic Dialogue stated that the now-deleted "Southport Wake Up" group with 14,000 members on Telegram became integral in organising and promoting the subsequent riots, and inciting hatred and violence. Disinformation was also spread on social media by the neo-Nazi group British Movement, and accelerationist Telegram channels with links to the proscribed terror groups Atomwaffen Division and National Action were used to co-ordinate and organise the riots.
Merseyside Police attempted to quell speculation by confirming that the name being circulated was not connected to the case and was not the suspect. The police initially released the information that the suspect was a male, aged seventeen, from Banks in Lancashire, though born in Cardiff. It was later reported that the suspect was a British citizen born to Rwandan parents, that he had moved to the Southport area in 2013, and that he had no known links to Islam. Subsequent court proceedings and the Southport Inquiry found that he had downloaded an Al-Qaeda training manual and produced ricin, but there was insufficient evidence to support the claim that the attack was motivated by Islamic fundamentalism, or by any political, religious or ideological cause. The spread of misinformation has widely been given as the cause of the Southport riots.
In a separate event, a woman was stabbed in Stirling on 3 August 2024. Tommy Robinson falsely claimed on social media that an "alleged Muslim" had been involved in an incident in which three women had been stabbed. Other accounts spread the misinformation, contributing to tensions. A man was arrested by the police, who described him as white and local to the area. The release of these details was unusual and done to curb misinformation.
Timeline
30 July
At approximately 20:05 BST, hundreds of protesters gathered outside Southport Mosque chanting, "No surrender!" and "English till I die!" Within several minutes, protesters clashed with police. Protesters barricaded themselves and shouted "Tommy Robinson", a far-right activist who founded the EDL. Robinson had been arrested and then released two days prior, before he fled the country, failing to appear at a High Court hearing to which he had been summonsed for alleged contempt of court.
By 20:37, protesters began throwing objects at the mosque and police, leaving one officer injured. A police van was set alight as police deployed smoke canisters. Merseyside Police requested officers from Greater Manchester Police, Cheshire Constabulary, Lancashire Police, and North Wales Police. Riot police cleared the area near the mosque by 21:14 and protesters began dispersing shortly after that as night fell. By 23:14, the riot had ended. A local corner shop was damaged.
The Merseyside Police Federation said that over fifty officers were injured at the Southport incident, with North West Ambulance Service reporting that twenty-seven were hospitalised and twelve were discharged at the scene. Merseyside Police stated that eight officers were seriously injured and three police dogs were wounded. One man from Standish was arrested on suspicion of possessing a bladed article. Police put in place a 24-hour Section 60 Order giving officers further stop-and-search authority, and a Section 34 Order, allowing police to direct people who are engaging in certain activities away from the area. Merseyside Police deployed additional officers after the riot, and ambulance resources remained.
The following day Hope Not Hate warned of the possibility of further demonstrations by far-right groups in several cities across the country. Concerns of further violence were echoed by Merseyside Police.
ITV News later reported that convicted member of banned neo-Nazi group National Action, Matthew Hankinson, had been one of the protesters.
31 July
In London, the Metropolitan Police established public order conditions for a protest dubbed "Enough is Enough", the slogan of Patriotic Alternative, where far-right demonstrators clashed with police near Downing Street on 31 July. The Metropolitan Police said that 111 people were arrested for offences including assaults on officers, possession of knives and offensive weapons and violent disorder.
On the evening of 31 July, a group of approximately 40 demonstrators gathered outside a Holiday Inn in the Newton Heath area of Manchester, which was purportedly housing asylum seekers. Chants were heard of the group exclaiming "we want our country back", a phrase associated with far-right groups in the UK. Two people were arrested.
Demonstrations also broke out in the County Durham town of Hartlepool on the same evening. Objects including eggs and glass bottles were thrown at the police in response to the latter's riot shields. Several police officers were injured and a police car was set alight. Eight people were arrested.
There was also a protest outside a hotel being used by the government to house asylum seekers in Aldershot. Hampshire's police and crime commissioner Donna Jones described "mob-type" behaviour, and Hampshire Constabulary reported a crowd of 200 people, with a minority throwing objects and subjecting people to racial abuse.
The organiser of a march in Middlesbrough was arrested by Cleveland Police on suspicion of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
2 August
On the evening of 2 August, protesters gathered in Sunderland's Keel Square for a march around the city centre. Mounted officers from Northumbria Police attended the demonstration along with officers in riot gear. Police and protesters clashed outside a mosque in St Mark's Road after some of the marchers attempted to approach the building. The protesters chanted "save our kids" and "we want our country back", as well as slogans in support of Tommy Robinson, and Islamophobic slurs. An Uber taxi was burnt and shops looted. Sunderland Central police station was set alight, and trains to Sunderland station were cancelled or diverted to St Peter's. Four officers were hospitalised and 12 people were arrested.
Around a hundred protesters shouting anti-immigrant slogans gathered in Liverpool on the same evening.
3 August
On 3 August, numerous far-right rallies and counter-protests occurred in England. In Leeds, approximately 150 protesters chanted slogans such as "You're not English anymore", with around 250 counter-protesters chanting "Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here". In Manchester, 150 protesters took part in the "Enough is Enough" protest, while 350 locals turned out for the "Stop the Far Right" counter-protest. In Nottingham, clashes were reported between opposing groups of protesters.
In Liverpool, two groups who had been taking part in separate protests joined up at the Pier Head before moving on to The Strand and Church Street. Many shops were damaged and looted as Spellow Library, a community hub in Walton was torched and wheelie bins set alight. A police officer was assaulted after being pushed off his motorbike and another hit in the head by a chair as protesters threw bottles, bricks and a flare at officers. 23 people were arrested in relation to the disorder as two police officers were hospitalised with a broken jaw and broken nose respectively.
In Stoke-on-Trent, a far-right march clashed with local counter-protest groups, primarily made up of Muslim men and youth, outside a local mosque, with missiles thrown at riot police. Three officers were injured and 10 people were arrested.
In Manchester, 'scuffles' with police led to two arrests. Two people were arrested in Leicester city centre and a protest on The Headrow in Leeds led to one arrest.
Twenty arrests were made in Blackpool after violent disorder broke out amongst nearly 1,000 protesters, with bottles and other projectiles thrown at police. Attendees of the nearby annual punk festival Rebellion formed an anti-fascist counter-protest leading to a stand-off in which chairs, bottles and planks of wood were thrown. Police reported there had also been "minor disruption" in Blackburn and Preston.
Police in Bristol made multiple arrests and closed roads after protesters gathered in Castle Park, where they clashed with counter-protesters who outnumbered them. Anti-racist protesters left Castle Park and linked arms with others in front of the Mercure Hotel after receiving information that far-right protesters might target the location, as it housed asylum seekers. The anti-racist protesters arrived at the hotel shortly before the far-right group and the police. The protesters faced violent attempts by the far-right to force their way through the protective line and into the hotel. Avon and Somerset Police arrested 14 people in relation to the protests.
Twenty-five people were arrested in Hull, where rioters attacked police with bricks and fireworks, set vehicles alight and looted several shops, including a Shoe Zone which was set on fire, in unrest which left 11 police officers injured. A video circulated online of a mob of rioters surrounding and attacking an Asian man in his car saying the word "kill" while shouting racial slurs. A hotel housing asylum seekers was also attacked, with rioters throwing bricks and smashing windows.
Outside England, there were also protests and violence in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Anti-immigration and anti-racism demonstrators faced off outside Belfast City Hall and were kept apart by riot police. A firework was thrown toward the anti-racism demonstration. The anti-immigration protesters then attempted to march to the Belfast Islamic Centre, but were blocked by police. Instead, they attacked several immigrant-owned businesses on Botanic Avenue. Violence continued in the Sandy Row area that night, where a supermarket and a café owned by immigrants were burnt out. Cars were burned and missiles were thrown at police, injuring three officers. Four people were arrested for the violence. Elsewhere in Northern Ireland, the M5 motorway was closed due to protest activity in Newtownabbey, and there were protests in Bangor and Carrickfergus. In Cardiff, reports of a planned far-right protest, which never materialised, led to an anti-racism demonstration.
A woman was stabbed on King Street in Stirling and there was online speculation from anti-Islam campaigner Tommy Robinson that the attacker was Muslim. Police Scotland issued a public statement stating that the attacker was a white man and had been arrested.
In Doncaster, a planned far-right protest was cancelled after only one person showed up.