Dozens of protests planned over weekend in wake of Southport attack

Dozens more protests have been planned for this weekend in the wake of the Southport stabbings.

Campaign group Hope Not Hate has identified more than 30 protests planned across the UK over the next two days.

The knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on Monday which left three girls dead sparked violent disorder in some cities and towns in England.

Thousands of people turned out to pay their respects to the victims at a vigil in Southport on Tuesday evening, but violence later erupted outside a mosque in the town with 53 police officers and three police dogs injured.

Merseyside Police said a 32-year-old man, from Wigan, was arrested on Friday on suspicion of violent disorder and remains in custody for questioning.

On Wednesday evening, more than 100 protesters were arrested on Whitehall, where bottles and cans were thrown at police, and violence broke out in Hartlepool, County Durham, and in Manchester outside the Holiday Inn on Oldham Road.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced a new “national” response to the disorder linking police forces across the country.

And on Friday evening rioters battled police in the streets of Sunderland city centre following a planned protest linked to the Southport knife attack.

Some protesters were involved in violence, setting an overturned car on fire, while others targeted a mosque.

Videos posted on social media appeared to show a fire at a city centre police office, which was marked permanently closed on Google Maps and was no longer listed on a police station finder on Northumbria Police’s website.

Northumbria Police said in a post on X that its officers had been “subjected to serious violence”, and added that three officers were taken to hospital.

Eight people have so far been arrested for a range of offences, including violent disorder and burglary, the force added.

Education Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities, and MP for Houghton and Sunderland South, Bridget Phillipson, posted on X saying: “The scenes in our city centre tonight are shocking. We have seen unforgivable violence and thuggery.

“The criminals involved in this appalling disorder must be identified, prosecuted, and punished with the full force of the law.

“Sunderland is better than this and these thugs do not represent our city.”

A number of buildings across England, including 10 Downing Street, were lit up in pink on Friday night in memory of those killed in the Southport attack.

Businessman John Hayes, who was stabbed while trying to disarm the alleged Southport attacker, told ITV News he thought he was going to be killed.

Mr Hayes, who was discharged from hospital on Thursday, said when he opened his office door he saw a “girl on the floor who looked like she had multiple stab wounds and was heavily blood-soaked and this guy in front of me with a knife, who then came towards me in a pretty menacing way”.

Earlier on Friday, the chairman of the mosque that was attacked in Southport said “hate will never prevail”.

Muslim, Jewish and Christian religious leaders gathered outside the mosque on Friday afternoon in a call for communities to reject hatred and stand together.

Speaking outside the mosque on Friday evening, Ibrahim Hussein said: “On Tuesday night I thought I was the unluckiest man in the whole of the country.

“On Friday evening, I feel the luckiest man in the whole of the country.

“Look at all of these beautiful people. Look at all these faces, and different faiths. We have people here from the church and from the synagogue.”

He said he was “old friends” with some of the other faith leaders.

“We should have been focused all along about these poor people who have suffered in the most horrific way.

“And we should have been standing here giving them as much support as we can. We should have been standing here, praying for them, supporting them, focusing on them.

“Instead these people try to destroy what is so beautiful about our community.”

Mr Hussein also said “hate will never prevail”.

He said: “This beautiful community came together. And before we came to clean here, they were here six o’clock in the morning, cleaning and sweeping and asking what can they do in order to help. So we thank them very much.

“And the last word is to say they will never win. Hate will never prevail. Always love will prevail in the end.”

Before Mr Hussein spoke, Qari Asim, chair of the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board, read a joint statement outside the mosque standing alongside Pete Spiers, Archdeacon of Knowsley and Sefton and chair of the Sefton Faith Forum, and Rabbi Robyn Ashworth Steen, co-chair of the Assembly of Reform Rabbis and Cantors in the UK.

The joint statement from the religious leaders said Islamophobia “must not be allowed to fester in our society”.

“There are some who have chosen to use what should be a moment of collective grief to sow the seeds of division, spread Islamophobia and attack the mosque here in Southport,” Mr Asim said, reading the joint statement.

“People from all of our faiths live as minority communities in different places across the world and understand what it is like to be persecuted.

“And in times like this, we must all stand together and not let division destroy community cohesion in our cities and towns.

“We stand here today, united in our grief and resolute in our condemnation of those opportunists who have shamelessly attempted to undermine and divide our communities.

“We believe that the community here in Southport, and the country as a whole, must now come together to challenge hatred based on people’s identities. In particular, the rising levels of Islamophobia must not be allowed to fester in our society.”

The Metropolitan Police said the force has “sufficient resources” in place to deal with protests in central London this weekend but officers have not been informed of a demonstration in response to the Southport stabbings.

It is understood that an ⁠extra 70 prosecutors will be on standby this weekend to charge people who set out to cause violent disorder.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister returned to Southport on Friday, visiting the town for the second time this week after Monday’s knife attack.

Sir Keir announced further support for Southport, including mental health support for those affected by the attack and a programme of events to help build community cohesion.

The 17-year-old charged with the murders of three girls in Southport appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday, and was named as Axel Rudakubana, from Banks in Lancashire.

Rudakubana is also charged with the attempted murders of yoga class instructor Leanne Lucas, businessman Mr Hayes and eight children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and with possession of a kitchen knife with a curved blade.

He was remanded to youth detention accommodation and will next appear in court in October.