Map shows where riots have broken out across UK with dozens more planned

Violence has continued to erupt across the country, with dozens more protests planned for this weekend in the wake of the Southport stabbings.

Campaign group Hope Not Hate has identified more than 30 demonstrations over the next two days after far-right marches descended into all-out riots.

More than 50 police officers, as well as three dogs, were injured when a mob of agitators hijacked a vigil for the three girls killed at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport held on Tuesday.

Similar scenes of violent disorder were then seen in London, Manchester, Hartlepool, and Liverpool over the following three days before rioters descended on Sunderland last night.

Greater Manchester Police said a dispersal notice had been authorised for the city centre to deal with planned demonstrations on Saturday.

Officers also mounted a significant security operation in Belfast city centre, after a small group of anti-Islamic protesters gathered at the front of City Hall, chanting ‘Islam Out’.

Chaos across the UK

The unrest poses the biggest challenge yet of Sir Keir Starmer‘s premiership, evoking the scale of public disorder last seen during the 2011 riots.

There were a series of riots in August 2011 in cities and towns across England, which started in Tottenham Hale, north east London, after the killing of Mark Duggan, who was shot dead by police on August 4.

On Thursday, SirKeirannounced a new ‘national’ response to the disorder linking police forces across the country through shared intelligence and the expanded use of facial recognition.

Southport, Liverpool, Sunderland, Hartlepool, London and Manchester have all seen outbreaks of violence.

Belfast

Police in Belfast are mounting a significant security operation as a confrontation between anti-immigration and anti-racism protesters is continuing in the city centre.

The two groups were exchanging insults and a small number of fireworks and other missiles have been thrown amid tense exchanges in front of the City Hall.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Land Rovers and officers in riot gear were separating the two groups.

Hundreds of people turned up for an anti-racist counter-protest in the heart of the city centre after social media calls for an anti-immigration demonstration in the city in the wake of the murders of three young children in Southport.

There were speeches and anti-Nazi chanting at the rally, which featured trade union banners and Palestinian flags.

Manchester

A dispersal notice has been authorised across Manchester city centre in order to assist police in dealing with protests, Greater Manchester Police have said.

The section 34 notice will mean officers have powers to seize any item used in the commission of anti-social behaviour until 7pm on Saturday.

Chief Inspector Natasha Evans said: ‘People have a legal right to participate in peaceful protest, however where people are intent on breaking the law, we will take action.’

Sunderland

Eight people have been arrested and three police officers taken to hospital following rioting in Sunderland city centre.

It comes after rioters battled police following a planned protest linked to the Southport knife attack.

A police station was looted and a Citizens Advice Bureau office was set alight by rioters.

A priest at Sunderland Minster said yobs tried to smash a gravestone to use as missiles during widespread violence in the city, adding that they were guilty of ‘an act of sacrilege’.

Sunderland Central Labour MP Lewis Atkinson said a link could be drawn between the disorder in his constituency on Friday and the ashes of the English Defence League (EDL), which was founded by Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley Lennon.

The EDL has disbanded but its supporters remain active, and Mr Atkinson said evidence suggested a Nazi offshoot of the group was involved in the violence in his constituency on Friday, in which a police station was torched and a mosque attacked.

Liverpool

Police had to keep crowds of opposing protesters apart outside a mosque in Liverpool.

A barrier was set up between them near the Abdullah Quilliam Mosque on the city’s Brougham Terrace on Friday evening.

Merseyside Police said extra officers were being deployed over the weekend, with extra stop-and-search powers in place in both Southport and Liverpool ahead of possible demos.

Hartlepool

An 11-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of arson after a police car was torched during disorder in Hartlepool on Wednesday.

Another boy, aged 13, was among the 16 people held on suspicion of various offences linked to violent scenes there.

Footage circulated on social media showed a young person being punched in the face in what appeared to be an unprovoked attack by so-called protesters.

Officers are urging the man and the victim, or anyone who may know them, to contact the force.

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