‘Far-right’ riot thugs warned they face ‘reckoning’ as PM holds Cobra meeting after weekend of fiery carnage
FAR-RIGHT thugs have been warned they face a “reckoning” as the Prime Minister holds a Cobra meeting after a weekend of chaos.
More than 420 people have been arrested after social media lies whipped up riots across the UK.
Hundreds of thugs petrol-bombed a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham, near Sheffield, yesterday.
Rioters in balaclavas hurled bricks and fire extinguishers at cops who tried in vain to stop them torching the hotel.
Ten riot cops were injured – including one who was knocked out after suffering a head injury.
Yobs also petrol-bombed a Holiday Inn hosting asylum seekers in Tamworth, Staffordshire.
A children’s library in Liverpool and a Citizens’ Advice centre in Sunderland were also torched over the weekend.
Mosques across the country have been attacked and shops owned by ethnic minority Brits have been looted.
Today Sir Keir Starmer will summon ministers and police chiefs for the first Cobra meeting since the riots started.
Last night the PM said the “far-right thugs” behind the riots would regret their actions.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper slammed the “disgraceful” riots – saying they betray Britain’s values.
Writing in The Times, Cooper said: “Make no mistake – there will be a reckoning for the individuals who took part in this violence.
“Whatever they and some of their political supporters may tell us, these are not patriots standing up for their communities.
“They are thugs, criminals, and extremists who betray the very values our country is built on.”
Shadow Home Secretary James Cleverly told Times Radio: “Mosques are being targeted, asylum hotels are being targeted.
“We are seeing people with swastika tattoos and giving Nazi salutes – this is self-evidently driven in significant part by the far right.
“We know that there is a very active online community stirring up hatred, stirring up the kind of attitudes which trigger events like this.
“So we know where this is coming from. It is absolutely right to describe the actions of these people as the far right.”
Tory leadership contender Cleverly said the government had been “slow” to crack down on the riots.
He said: “When the government gets things right, I will support them, because this issue is absolutely key.
“But I’m also concerned that they have been slow. It’s only today that Cobra is going to sit.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called for Parliament to be recalled this morning.
Posting on X, Farage added: “We should not discount the use of the army if the situation were to deteriorate further.”
Violent clashes broke out in dozens of UK towns and cities last week and continued over the weekend.
They have been fuelled by online lies following the murders of three girls in Southport on Monday.
Posts wrongly claimed suspect Axel Rudakubana was a Muslim asylum seeker.
Rudakubana, 17, was actually born in Cardiff and raised as a Christian.
Terrifying violence followed the attack in Southport, before unrest spread to Hartlepool and Manchester on Wednesday.
Riots then broke out in Sunderland and Blackpool on Friday – and in 11 more cities on Saturday and Sunday.
At Middlesbrough’s Cenotaph, hundreds of protesters squared up to police before throwing slate, cans and pots at the officers.
A group of masked yobs walked through a residential suburb of the city.
They used metal bars and wooden posts to smash car windscreens and the windows of terraced houses.
Vehicles were torched, along with wheelie bins.
Meanwhile, in Weymouth cops were tasked with keeping protesters and counter-protesters separate along the beach.
Cops confirmed two officers were injured, one hit in the face with a bottle while the other was punched.
Another migrant hotel in the Hampshire town of Aldershot was also targeted.
A group of men outside Potters International Hotel brandished a banner insisting: “We’re not far right, we’re just right.”
By 6.45pm a crowd of some 200 “got involved in criminal activity, throwing objects and subjecting people to racist abuse,” according to Hampshire Police.
In the centre of Bolton, large crowds of anti-immigration demonstrators gathered along with counter-protesters while police tried to keep them apart.
Trouble also flared in Belfast, Blackpool, Stoke, Leeds, Hull, Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham, Bristol and Portsmouth.
Snaps show the devastation which rioters have left behind in many towns this morning.
One photo shows a torched upside-down car in Middlesbrough – with thugs responsible nowhere to be seen.
