SOLIHULL, United Kingdom: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed on Thursday to maintain intensive efforts to stop further far-right riots in English towns and cities, as more people were convicted for their roles in the unrest. On Wednesday, with dozens of officers looking on, a crowd of “Stand Up To Racism” demonstrators were joined by hundreds of pro-Palestinian supporters in a noisy, carnival-like rally opposed to the far right.

Starmer said he would chair another emergency meeting of senior ministers and police leaders later Thursday to plan for potential trouble in “the coming days”. He also noted the criminal justice system would continue “working speedily” to convict those already arrested during a week of near nightly riots across England and in Northern Ireland. The disturbances, first sparked by a July 29 knife attack that killed three children, has seen mosques and migrant-related facilities attacked alongside police and other targets.

Officials have blamed misinformation spread on social media about the suspected perpetrator for fueling the disorder. “It’s important that we don’t let up here,” Starmer told media outlets as he visited a mosque and met community leaders in Solihull, western England. “That’s why later on today, I’ll have another... meeting with law enforcement, with senior police officers, to make sure that we reflect

on last night but also plan for the coming days.” Starmer credited “police deployed in numbers in the right places, giving reassurance to communities” with helping to ease the unrest overnight. Wednesday evening turned out to be largely peaceful. Instead of the far-right gatherings at dozens of sites linked to immigrant support services for which police had been preparing, thousands of anti-racism and anti-fascism protesters staged peaceful demonstrations.

They massed in cities including London, Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Newcastle. “Whose streets? Our streets!” thousands chanted in Walthamstow, northeast London, where hundreds of pro-Palestine supporters joined the rally under a heavy police presence. “I live in the borough and we don’t want these people on our streets... they don’t represent us,” Sara Tresilian, 58, told AFP as she joined the throngs in Walthamstow early Wednesday evening. “You have to turn out to give that message... I think it’s important that you show up for your friends and neighbors.”

Maz, 40, who declined to give his last name, had come down with his Palestinian flag along with hundreds of other Muslims from the surrounding area. “We’re local, we’re here for each other because these racists declared they were going to destroy our community,” he said. “So we’re here to keep the peace.”

In Walthamstow, the crowds chanted “Whose streets? Our streets!” and other slogans, holding banners saying “smash fascism & racism” and “racists not welcome here”. Several pro-Palestinian attendees held the Palestinian flag aloft, climbing atop bus stops and other vantage points. “It’s good to see,” local restaurant owner Assad, who declined to give his last name, said of the collective turnout, from behind the counter of his Asian street food outlet.

“There was some concern,” he admitted regarding whether far-right agitators would show up. “It’s one of those things you don’t expect in London. We’re a restaurant run by immigrants, Muslims as well. The silver lining is the community here is very strong,” he added. Although the event passed off peacefully, the capital’s Metropolitan Police said Thursday that officers were investigating “as a matter of urgency” a video filmed there. In it, a now-suspended Labour councilor telling the crowd that far-right rioters needed their throats “cut”. London Metropolitan Police subsequently released a statement saying a man in his 50s had been arrested.

Hours earlier, around the corner, a bakery store owner was closing early in case trouble erupted. “It’s crazy,” he said of the recent riots, which followed a knife attack in Southport, northwest England, that killed three young girls. Disinformation spread online wrongly blamed the stabbing spree on a Muslim asylum-seeker. “I understand why they’re mad but this ain’t the way,” he said of protesters, who turned violent in the aftermath of the tragedy. “Blaming a whole culture for the actions of one man — what they’re doing is wrong. What I just want is for them to do protests without attacking.”

Muhammed Noman, an immigrant from Pakistan to the UK 13 years ago and who now owns several cafes in northeast London, was handing out bottled water from outside one on Wednesday. He was not planning to board up his store, as several neighboring businesses had done ahead of that evening’s gatherings. “I came myself to look after the store,” he said, adding friends and family had told him to shutter the place temporarily. Welcoming the heavy police presence, Noman added he wanted “peace” — in Walthamstow and across England.

The UK government has put 6,000 specialist police on standby across England to deal with potential flashpoints, after far-right social media channels called for a string of immigration-linked sites to be targeted. Metropolitan Police chief Mark Rowley, who ordered thousands of officers onto the capital’s streets Wednesday, commended the “show of force” from the police and “show of unity from communities”.

Rowley noted there had been a small number of arrests due to “some local criminals” engaging in anti-social behavior in some locations but that fears of “extreme-right disorder were abated”. The National Police Chiefs’ Council announced Thursday that 483 people had been arrested since trouble first flared on July 30, and that 149 charges had been filed. That number will “continue to rise significantly,” the police body noted.

London police said on Thursday that officers had made 10 further arrests overnight, a week after protests outside Downing Street in Westminster turned violent. Rowley, who joined the dawn raids, said those arrested “aren’t protestors, patriots or decent citizens”. “They’re thugs and criminals,” he noted, adding most had previous convictions for weapon possession, violence, drugs and other serious offences. After courts began handing down jail terms Wednesday for offenders tied to the unrest, more people charged appeared in the dock for a second day nationwide. – Agencies