Thursday briefing: The story of the night when the far right were outnumbered

Good morning. It was billed as a night of bigotry and bloodshed: more than 100 far-right rallies were anticipated across England and Wales, with the potential for the worst unrest of the last two weeks. Shops were boarded up, and workers stayed at home; 41 of 43 local police force areas were preparing for the threat of violence. But something else happened , instead.

In Birmingham and Bristol, Southampton and Sheffield, and in many other towns and cities besides, anti-racist protesters gathered in their hundreds and thousands to stand up against the extremists. And while handfuls of far-right sympathisers did come out in some places, they were almost universally outnumbered. In many places, they simply didn’t turn up at all. At the end of the night, and with very few reports of trouble, the counter-protesters went home peacefully, their message sent with absolute clarity.

None of this means that the crisis is over – and there may be more flashpoints in the days ahead. But it was an unambiguously good night for those who hoped for a clear signal that there are many more who abhor the recent violence than support it. With the help of the Guardian’s reporting team, today’s newsletter tells the story of how the night unfolded. Here are the headlines.

Five big stories

1. Opioids | Millions of people are addicted to, or at risk of becoming dependent on, prescription opioid painkillers, according to international research . The study found that one in three people taking opioids including codeine and oxycodone show symptoms of being dependent on them.

2. UK news | Shamima Begum’s legal fight to restore her UK citizenship has received a significant blow after the supreme court refused to hear an appeal. Three judges from the UK’s final court of appeal ruled “the grounds of appeal do not raise an arguable point of law”.

3. Austria | Three Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna this week have been cancelled over an apparent plot to launch an attack on a public event in the Vienna area. Austrian authorities said they had arrested a 19-year-old man for allegedly planning an Islamist attack.

4. Reform UK | The chair of Reform UK, Zia Yusuf, was a member of the Conservatives until last week when party officials were approached by the Guardian. Richard Fuller, the Conservative party chair, emailed Yusuf to tell him his membership had been revoked last Friday afternoon.

5. Travel | The huge passenger vessels sometimes known as “cruisezillas” are getting bigger than ever , according to new research finding that the world’s largest cruise ships have doubled in size since 2000. If the industry’s growth does not slow, the biggest ships in 2050 will be eight times larger than the Titanic.

In depth: ‘Now they know we won’t stand for it. We’ll be here every time’

It is too early to say with certainty why the far right were so heavily outnumbered last night, but we can make some educated guesses.

The extremists are not centrally organised, and it’s not like there was a sign-up sheet being distributed: it may be that there were never that many people who intended to show up in the first place. The mugshots, charges and prison sentences that have already been handed out to some of the perpetrators of the recent violence may have made others realise the risk of following in their footsteps.

The well-publicised extent of the police presence at potential flashpoints could also have been off-putting. And for those who did turn up, the presence of overwhelming numbers of counter-protesters may have led to a loss of nerve – and either very limited actions, or a decision to slink quietly away.

That is not to say that the night passed off wholly without trouble: in Blackpool, Aldershot, Portsmouth, and Chatham in Kent – as well as a few other places – there were confrontations between the two sides, or episodes of vandalism and intimidation. But those flashpoints were in the minority. Here are a few of the stories of what happened everywhere else.

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Walthamstow, London | ‘Every single person here tonight should be proud of themselves’

An immigration centre had been slated as a possible site for a far-right gathering – but instead, thousands of anti-racism protesters showed up, with a crowd stretching at least a mile along the street. With what local MP Stella Creasy described as a “three-figure” police presence – that in the end maintained a discreet distance – and many shops boarded up, the crowd chanted “Love not hate” and “Whose streets? Our streets!” A man with a megaphone shouted “When the fascists return …” and the crowd replied: “We fight back!”

Ben Quinn spoke to Kristine Pommert, a German who has been living in the UK since 1992. “I am from a place where people did not stand up against fascism when it was really necessary and for that reason I feel that we have to be here,” she said.

Another memorable voice in Walthamstow was that of the woman in this video , who spoke to the rapt crowd. “They will not intimidate our Muslim brothers and sisters,” she said. “We stand united. And every single person here tonight should be proud of themselves. Because across the country on their televisions, people are watching with horror and disgust at the filth that these people are dishing out – the pogroms, in places like Rotherham. What you stand for today, what we stand for together, is hope against hatred, is love against division.”

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Liverpool | ‘Scousers, united, will never be defeated!’

In Liverpool, St Mary’s church, which hosts an immigration advice centre, was feared to be a target of the far right – a very real threat after events in the city on Saturday. The church was boarded up, and Father Peter Morgan, the priest at St Mary’s, told Josh Halliday that asylum seekers had been “terrified, absolutely terrified”.

But hundreds of people, from a group called Nans Against Nazis to a number of young men wearing face coverings, formed a human shield around the church. The atmosphere was carnivalesque, and there were chants of “Refugees are welcome here” and “Scousers, united, will never be defeated!”

Helen Robinson-Little, 47, had come to the church bringing helmets to shield people from any missiles. She told Josh she had been at a counter-protest in Liverpool on Saturday when a far-right demonstrator screamed in her face “You and your children deserve to be raped” and called her a “Muslim lover”.

Asked how the city will come together after the unrest, Robinson-Little was at a loss: “I don’t know. I don’t know. We will stand together.” But there was no sign of the far right.

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Bristol | ‘It’s up to us to make the fascists think twice before they come back’

The reported target in Bristol was an immigration law firm, one of the addresses included in a list on a far-right Telegram channel this week. But an estimated 2,000 people showed up to stand against the threat. There had been clashes between the far right and counter-protesters on Saturday, and Tom Wall reported that the atmosphere was initially tense last night, with groups darting off as rumours of far-right attacks swirled. But there were no significant clashes reported.

Later, Wall reported, the atmosphere was relatively calm, with people chatting, listening to music, and joining in anti-fascist chants. They held up signs reading “fascists are the minority” and “refugees are welcome”.

A reporter for the Bristol Cable recorded a speech from one of the attendees: “We’re strong when we’re together, we’re weak when we’re apart. It’s up to fucking 2,000 or however many of us that are out that’s going to make the fascists think twice before they come back.”

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Sheffield | ‘We made a sign for nothing!’

In Sheffield, parts of the city turned into a ghost town hours before a rumoured demonstration outside an immigration advice centre. But local news outlet The Star reported that there were about 500 anti-fascist protesters, scores of riot police – and no visible presence from the far right.

“You’d have to be a pretty thick fascist to turn up here in front of hundreds of people,” the Star reported one speaker as saying. As the crowd dissipated later on, Robyn Vinter spoke to a protester called Clare, who held a placard reading “Hate never wins”.

“We made a sign for nothing!” she joked, before her friend added: “They didn’t bother coming. Very disappointing.”

“Someone said maybe it was a false flag thing but at least now they know we won’t stand for any of their shit. We’ll be here every time.”

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Birmingham | ‘This is a great multicultural city, the fascists want to destroy that’

At a refugee and migrant centre that had been listed as a location for a far-right rally, about 500 people gathered in opposition – and, once again, found themselves alone. They marched from the refugee centre into the city centre, passing boarded-up shops and chanting “fascist scum out of Brum”. Cars honked in support as they went.

Protester Saima Razzaq told Jessica Murray: “As a British-born Pakistani, who is Muslim and queer, I wanted to come out and be part of the message that the most diverse city in the UK is united. If we can get it right, the rest of the UK can get it right.”

Another protester, 66-year-old Ceinwen Hilton, said: “Birmingham is a great multicultural city, we get on together, do things together in harmony. The fascists want to destroy that. What we’ve seen the past few days is really frightening and shocking. But there are millions of people who don’t agree with that. So we need to come out and say we’re against it.”

What else we’ve been reading

• The Conservatives are facing a crisis, writes sociologist Phil Burton-Cartledge : their voters are dying off. His piece is very persuasive on why it’s unlikely that the next generation of older voters will simply move right in the same way. Archie

• We’ve been told for years that eating bugs instead of meat could be an easy way to tackle the climate crisis – Tim Dowling has taken a look (pictured above) to see if insect cuisine is about to take off – eating a few delicious cricket meatballs in the process. Toby Moses, head of newsletters

• David Batty and Rajeev Syal have a really useful explainer looking at the similarities and differences between the far right riots of the last 10 days and the 2011 riots . Archie

• Rich Pelley has tried the new TikTok trend of “ rawdogging ” so you don’t have to. It’s not sexual slang any more (get your mind out of the gutter) but rather men proving their masculinity by doing anything, often long haul travel, while doing nothing – no screens, no food, no talking. Rich gets to expense a £5.99, 185-mile bus trip from London to Swansea. Toby

• I’m quite gutted that Love Is Blind: UK only gets two stars from Elle Hunt , who fears it’s “essentially un-British to talk about your feelings, which all Love Is Blind participants are obliged to do constantly”. I will be watching all of it anyway. Archie

Sport

Paris 2024 | Matt Hudson-Smith was beaten by the United States’ Quincy Hall by four-hundredths of a second in the 400m, missing out on a first British gold in the event since 1924.

Football | Spanish stars Rodri and Álvaro Morata have each been banned for one international match by Uefa for chanting “Gibraltar is Spanish” during celebrations in Madrid of the victory over England in the Euro 2024 final.

Football | Liverpool have identified Real Sociedad’s Martín Zubimendi as their first major signing of the summer . It is understood the Euro 2024 winner with Spain, who has a reported release clause of £51m, is viewed as a viable option to fill the defensive midfield role.

The front pages

The Guardian’s splash today is “Thousands take to the streets to counter threat from far right”, while the Daily Mail has “Night anti-hate marchers faced down the thugs” and the Times says “Thousands take to street to confront the far right”. In the Daily Mirror the headline is “Standing together”, and the Daily Express is also on message with “United Britain stands firm against thugs”.

“Far-right rioters face football ban as ministers bid to curb unrest” – that’s in the i . The Sun refers to the sentences handed down to some of those who have participated in the riots, with “Nailed and jailed”. The Metro says that it’s “Putin’s pawns stoking riots” by flooding social media with racist nonsense. “Britain shuts up shop over riots threat,” says the Telegraph . Top story in the Financial Times is “H2O agrees to pay investors €250mn to avoid FCA fine for ‘serious’ failings”.

Today in Focus

Is AI a bubble?

Alex Hern reports on recent problems artificial intelligence companies have faced and asks whether the billions invested are paying off

Cartoon of the day | Ben Jennings

The Upside

A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad

Team USA’s women’s gymnastics quintet are returning home from Paris with eight Olympic medals to their name, but there’s one hero of their team that you won’t have seen on the podium.

Beacon, pictured above with Simone Biles, is a four-year-old golden retriever emotional support dog who has been a valuable behind-the-scenes member of the squad for the past year, helping the competitors keep their stress and serotonin levels in check.

“Thank god for Beacon,” said Sunisa Lee, who took bronze in both the women’s uneven bars and the women’s artistic individual all-around events, when posing with Beacon during qualifying ahead of the Paris spectacular.

Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday

Bored at work?

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