2024 United Kingdom riots

From 30 July to 5 August 2024, far-right, anti-immigration protests and riots occurred in England and Northern Ireland, within the United Kingdom. This followed a mass stabbing of girls at a dance class in Southport on 29 July in which three children were killed. The riots were fuelled by 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 that had grown leading up to the protests. The disorder included racist attacks, arson, and looting and was the largest incident of social unrest in England since 2011. By 8 August at least 200 people had been sentenced with 177 imprisoned, to an average sentence of around two years and up to a nine-years. As of 1 September, 1,280 arrests and nearly 800 charges had been made in relation to the unrest.

The 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. Online forums, the formation of safe spaces and other activities also countered racist sentiment and supported affected communities.

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.