New warning for Australian travellers as violent riots hit UK

Australians travelling to the UK have been reminded to “exercise extreme caution” amid riots sweeping the country.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade updated the advice on its Smart Traveller website on Monday. The general advice remains the same due to the threat of terrorism, but the latest update appeared to raise concerns about .

“Avoid areas where protests are taking place due to the potential for disruption and violence,” the update said. “Monitor media for information and updates. Follow instructions from local authorities.

How did the riots in the UK start?

Violence broke out last Tuesday and spread across several British towns and cities in the aftermath of during a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, a seaside town about an hour northwest of Manchester, on July 29.
Three young girls were killed and ten others, including eight children, were injured.

The alleged attacker — 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, who turns 18 this week — has been charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder. He was brought to trial and placed in juvenile detention.

People attending an open-air vigil.

People at a vigil outside Southport Town Hall, where three children were killed in a knife attack on Monday. Source: AAP, Press Association / Ryan Jenkinson

Anti-immigration and anti-Islamic groups took advantage of the attack and spread disinformation online, causing chaos in cities and towns.

According to social media posts, the alleged attacker was a radical Islamist who had just arrived in the UK and was known to intelligence services.

Police say Rudakubana was born in the United Kingdom. They do not consider the attack a terrorist incident and blame online disinformation, amplified by public figures, for the violence.

What is the latest news on the riots?

Protests, usually involving a few hundred people, took place across the country, with rocks thrown at police officers, shops looted, and mosques and Asian businesses attacked.

In Rotherham, northern England, protesters tried to break into a hotel housing asylum seekers on Sunday in what British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called an act of “far-right violence.” At least 10 police officers were injured, but no hotel staff or customers were hurt.

Masked men throw chairs at riot police outside a hotel

Rioters attack police and enter the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, where asylum seekers were staying. Credit: Danny Lawson/AP

Another hotel housing asylum seekers was attacked in Tamworth, near Birmingham in the Midlands region of the UK.

Elsewhere, mainly young men, some wearing the British flag, threw stones and shouted

Many rioters were confronted by large groups of counter-protesters, with police often struggling to keep the two sides apart.

How has the government responded?

Starmer held an emergency meeting with the Home Secretary, police chiefs and prison governors on Monday (local time).
He said those who attack Muslim communities would quickly face the “full force of the law”.
“Whatever the motivation, this is not a protest. It is pure violence and we will not tolerate attacks on mosques or our Muslim communities,” Starmer said after the meeting.

“Full legal force will be exercised against all those identified as participants.”

British Prime Minister Kier Starmer sits at the cabinet table with a group of others. Behind him is a Union Jack flag and a marble fireplace.

British Prime Minister Kier Starmer held an emergency meeting on Monday. Credit: Betty Laura Zapata / Swimming Pool / EPA

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said rioters felt “emboldened by this moment to stir up racial hatred”.

She promised that those involved would be held accountable and said the government would support punishments ranging from prison sentences to travel bans.
According to the UK’s National Police Chiefs’ Council, police have arrested 378 people since the unrest began.
Starmer said a “standing army” of specialist police officers would deal with outbreaks of violence if necessary.

With reporting from Reuters news agency via Australian Associated Press.

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