# Racist riots and unrest in the UK **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 5, 2024, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-riots-and-unrest-in-the-uk/1005291 "2024-08-05T20:00:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-riots-and-unrest-in-the-uk/1005291/1 "2024-08-05T20:00:35Z")
There doesn’t seem to be a thread on this yet; about a week ago, a 17-year-old entered a dance/yoga class and attacked people, stabbing and killing three young girls and seriously injuring others. A rumour circulated that the attacker was an undocumented immigrant and this sparked a series of riots and violent protests by various far right groups, attacking police, Muslims, non-white people in general and destroying hotels and other places where asylum seekers are housed; this has spread to other locations across the country. > **[UK protests live updates: Almost 400 arrested in week of riots as suspects...](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cw5yyynpwnzt)** > > The number of arrests is expected to rise each day, as "work is going on around the clock" to bring those involved to justice, police chiefs say. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-riots-and-unrest-in-the-uk/1005291/2 "2024-08-05T20:17:43Z")
I have read about it and find it horrifying how well organised the right wingers seem to be and how readily they are mobilized. Is it too soon to ask how much of this is foreign (read: Russian) meddling? > [@Mangetout](#): > > A rumour circulated that the attacker was […] What is known of the attacker in the meantime? A week should have been enough time to stop unfounded rumors, who is spreading them? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-riots-and-unrest-in-the-uk/1005291/3 "2024-08-05T20:20:27Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > What is known of the attacker in the meantime? A week should have been enough time to stop unfounded rumors The (accused) attacker is British-born, which you might think would quell the unrest, but he’s black, and his name is Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, so that hasn’t helped at all in the eyes of the mob. > [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > who is spreading them? On that part, various right wing sources, including Andrew Tate, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-riots-and-unrest-in-the-uk/1005291/4 "2024-08-05T20:23:12Z")
Certainly the loathsome Nigel Farage has been doing his bit - ‘just asking questions’ about the official police line on right-wing news outlet GB News. And then demanding that parliament is recalled as if the rioting is just a manifestation of the silent majority’s desire for an ‘honest’ conversation about immigration. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-riots-and-unrest-in-the-uk/1005291/5 "2024-08-05T20:24:34Z")
I don’t have much info but I stopped talking to one fellow there a couple of years ago who was spouting a ton of racist bullshit. It shockingly copies old US racist tropes, memes, and political rhetoric. Seemed that he started expressing a new attitude when Brexit started. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-riots-and-unrest-in-the-uk/1005291/6 "2024-08-05T20:25:48Z")
So the usual ~~§#\*&%$!!!~~ suspects are using this to atttack the newly elected Labour government. Was to be expected, but it is chilling to see how far they are already willing to go. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-riots-and-unrest-in-the-uk/1005291/7 "2024-08-05T20:26:31Z")
I’d say Brexit was (in significant part) a manifestation of a general rise in xenophobia that is being stirred up by nationalist and right wing groups. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-riots-and-unrest-in-the-uk/1005291/8 "2024-08-05T21:06:24Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > What is known of the attacker in the meantime? > **[Southport suspect starred in Doctor Who-themed BBC charity advert](https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/southport-suspect-starred-in-doctor-who-themed-bbc-charity-advert-tl5r5mtwj)** > > Axel Rudakubana was one of four children who appeared in 2018 Children in Need campaign ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-riots-and-unrest-in-the-uk/1005291/9 "2024-08-05T21:19:58Z")
Paywalled for me, but the headline is sure unexpected. Will look for other sources, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Jegpeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jegpeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jegpeg)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-riots-and-unrest-in-the-uk/1005291/10 "2024-08-05T22:07:27Z")
I wouldn’t object to recalling parliament but to to discuss immigration. For example, if the police need support while the government can bring the army in without parliamentary debate it would probably be better if they had all party support. With the prisons overcrowded maybe we would come to an agreement with Rwanda to deport all the rioters there! ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-riots-and-unrest-in-the-uk/1005291/11 "2024-08-05T22:28:52Z")
I don’t think that Brexit had a lot to do with it. There has always been a section of the British population that professes to hate foreigners: - Mosely did pretty well whipping up resentment against Jews in the 1940s. - When I was a young man in the “swinging” 60s, gay bashing was a popular Saturday night entertainment. - Enoch Powel did the same for black immigrants with his “Rivers of Blood” speech in 68. Now we have the boat people to blame for all our ills. Net migration for two years, ending June 2023 is 1.3 million - Considering our falling birthrate, this hardly affects the total population figures. Of course, the xenophobic racists are not susceptible to logic. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-riots-and-unrest-in-the-uk/1005291/12 "2024-08-05T22:37:33Z")
> [@Jegpeg](#): > > With the prisons overcrowded maybe we would come to an agreement with Rwanda to deport all the rioters there! I wouldnt wish it on the people of Rwanda. An overcrowded unsafe prison barge should suffice. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-riots-and-unrest-in-the-uk/1005291/13 "2024-08-05T22:51:55Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I don’t think that Brexit had a lot to do with it. There has always been a section of the British population that professes to hate foreigners True, but I believe Brexit in some ways legitimised that xenophobia (not to the rest of us, but to the xenophobes). ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-riots-and-unrest-in-the-uk/1005291/14 "2024-08-05T23:04:31Z")
Long before Brexit, the Brits had a saying: “The Wogs start at Calais.” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-riots-and-unrest-in-the-uk/1005291/15 "2024-08-06T11:54:12Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > who is spreading them? Oh, Also Elon Musk now, FFS. > **[Starmer clashes with Musk over UK riot remarks](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/08/05/starmer-attacks-musk-over-claims-uk-civil-war-is-inevitable/)** > > Prime Minister says no justification for billionaire’s claim that Britain is heading for ‘civil war’ Oops - that might be paywalled. Here: > **[No 10 criticises Elon Musk for ‘civil war is inevitable’ post on England riots](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/aug/05/no-10-criticises-elon-musk-post-x-riots)** > > PM’s spokesperson says ‘no justification’ for X owner’s comment under video of far-right disorder ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-riots-and-unrest-in-the-uk/1005291/16 "2024-08-06T13:46:25Z")
The Swiss Neue Zürcher Zeitung also mention Tommy Robinson, née Stephen Yaxley-Lennon ([in German and probably paywalled](https://www.nzz.ch/international/der-radikale-agitator-tommy-robinson-befeuert-die-unruhen-in-england-ld.1842354)) publishing hate videos from the five star hotel in Cyprus where he is supposedly staying. They also claim the radical violent right is highly decentralised and difficult for the autorities to follow. I wonder why it seems that the right is always more dfficult to control than the left, even when the left (well, Labour anyway) is in power. ---
**Author:** ![yendis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ed8c4c/32.png) [@yendis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yendis)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-riots-and-unrest-in-the-uk/1005291/17 "2024-08-06T15:20:07Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > On that part, various right wing sources, including Andrew Tate, apparently. And now Andrew Tate is whining on Twitter that he’s being targeted by racists in the UK because he’s brown. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-riots-and-unrest-in-the-uk/1005291/18 "2024-08-06T15:54:09Z")
The Guardian has a nice to read opinion article about those instigators and how disgusting they are: > **[Where are the brave inciters of Britain’s race riots? From Tommy to Elon,...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/06/britain-race-riots-tommy-robinson-elon-musk)** > > Thugs may be rampaging in the streets, but their leaders-from-behind are more likely to be found sipping cocktails by the pool, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-riots-and-unrest-in-the-uk/1005291/19 "2024-08-06T18:39:55Z")
These recent riots seem to be quite a chaotic violent lashing out, including looting shops as well as the more ‘focused’ persecution of refugee hostels, mosques and so on. Maybe it’s the more opportunistic, non-ideological thuggery which is harder to control than the more organised, misguided ‘protests’. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-riots-and-unrest-in-the-uk/1005291/20 "2024-08-06T18:47:53Z")
I love Marina Hyde. I just recently discovered her via the podcast she does with Richard Osmand, _The Rest is Entertainment_. Mostly British, but some international, behind-the-scenes entertainment news and views. She is an information junkie and is ten steps ahead of everyone. And of course can write with the best of 'em! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-riots-and-unrest-in-the-uk/1005291.md?page=2)