UK police prepare for far-right rallies with biggest mobilisation since 2011 riots

Police are staging their biggest mobilisation to counter disorder since the 2011 riots with over 100 gatherings led by the far right expected to take place on Wednesday.

The number was higher than previously thought, with rallies expected to take place across most of the country, police said. 41 of the 43 local police force areas in England and Wales are bracing for potential violence.

A police source said there was a credible threat that many of the gatherings could turn violent. While they accepted that not all planned events would take place, they are braced for the worst evening of trouble since rioting started last week.

The targets are largely connected to asylum and immigration, and a police source said up to 30 counter-protests were so far expected.

The Metropolitan police in London is sending 200 riot officers to provide reinforcements to the Greater Manchester forces. Riot officers from the south-east of England are being ordered to the north-east.

The police source, who was authorised to speak to reporters, said the worst disorder was expected in the north-east and north-west of England.

About 6,000 riot-trained officers will be on duty across the country, some deployed at planned far-right rallies, others ready to provide reinforcements to colleagues.

About 2,000 reserve riot officers will be placed around the country to provide reinforcements as quickly as possible.

Some accommodations for asylum seekers where there is a credible threat will be guarded. On Sunday in Rotherham there was an attempt to set fire to a hotel housing more than 200 asylum seekers, who were inside at the time, with 700 people outside.

In total 428 arrests have been made so far across 26 force areas, after disorder and riots started last Tuesday, with that number expected to increase. 120 people have been charged, including for online incitement. It is understood detectives are investigating “senior organisers and known influencers”.

The source said: “Whether the criminality is online, whether it is on the streets, we are going after those involved, whether they are throwing bricks, or whether they are sending tweets that are inciting these issues. There is quite a hard line on that.”

“On the higher-influence keyboard warriors, who are inciting serious violence, there will be action taken against them. Arrests might not happen immediately, but those cases are being built, and the intelligence is being built around them.”

The source said: “We are also trawling TikTok and video platforms for evidential purposes as well.”

Police rejected a claim from far-right supporters of two-tier policing: “Crime is crime, regardless of colour or creed. We’re not here to police political views. We are here to keep safe, and arrest criminals, and that is what we’ll do.”

The director of public prosecutions on Tuesday said prosecutors may consider offences under terrorism laws. The police source said it was likely that counter-terrorism police had joined the investigation into some of the most serious violence.

On the question of who and what was driving the violence, the police source said: “It is a really nuanced picture. There is a level of coordination, there is a level of planning. It is not particularly sophisticated.

“There is planning at a local level … But a lot of what we are seeing is just locals reacting to what they are seeing on social media, what they are seeing outside on their streets and just joining in.

“Quite a lot of forces have reported it is not necessarily rightwing or leftwing, sometimes. A lot of it is low-level criminals who they already know about, joining in the trouble, using it as an excuse to commit violence, and looting.”