Why are people rioting across the UK?

For the last six days, there has been rioting and unrest in towns and cities across the UK.

The riots began in Southport last Tuesday - a day after three girls were killed in a knife attack in the Merseyside town.

Groups of people, many from outside the town, hurled bricks at police and a local mosque, set fires and threw bottles, with more than 50 officers injured.

Many of the rioters were supporters of the far right, police said at the time, and the escalating violence has since been described as "far-right thuggery" by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Since then, protests have been held in London, Rotherham, Middlesbrough, Liverpool, Bolton, and Northern Ireland among other places.

Why did they start?

Last Monday, nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar, six-year-old Bebe King and seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe were killed in an attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport.

Eight other children and two adults were also injured.

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A 17-year-old boy originally from Cardiff was arrested but due to him being under 18, Merseyside Police were initially unable to name him by law.

False claims began to circulate online - including incorrect suggestions he was an asylum seeker. Some suggested the suspect had arrived in the UK by boat last year - again, this is wrong.

He was also incorrectly labelled a "Muslim immigrant" and falsely named as "Ali al Shakati".

Among the false claims re-posted and seen by millions of people on Telegram and X were calls to attend a 'protest' in Southport the day after the knife attack.

Amid all the speculation, a court lifted the requirement for the suspect's anonymity and he was named as Axel Rudakubana - who was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents.

He appeared in court charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and one of possession of a bladed article.

Disinformation spreads online

The rumours were fuelled by several far-right figures, including Tommy Robinson and Andrew Tate, who posted about them on social media. Separately, Nigel Farage questioned if the police who had said the attack was not "terror-related", were being truthful.

"I just wonder whether the truth is being withheld from us. I don't know the answer to that but I think it is a fair and legitimate question," he said in a video.

Accounts with the names @europeinvasionn and @endwokeness also posted false information - reaching millions of people on X and Telegram.

In subsequent days, anti-immigration rioters caused destruction in towns and cities across the country - with mosques, libraries and a Citizens Advice centre targeted. Over the weekend, hotels housing asylum seekers were attacked.

More than 140 people have been arrested nationwide so far. In Middlesbrough alone, officers arrested 43 people.

Police officers have been injured as they try to push rioters back, some have been knocked unconscious.

Dr Tim Squirrell, an expert in the far right and disinformation at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, told Sky News the rioting does not come as a surprise.

"Anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment has been simmering under the surface and occasionally boiling over for a very long time," he says, citing semi-regular protests outside spaces associated with both groups in recent years.

"The far right is extremely adept at cynically exploiting tragedy as a mechanism to mobilise on the streets and try to affect political change.

"So if you already believe something about Muslims or any other vulnerable group - and you believe it strongly enough to turn out in the street - it doesn't necessarily matter whether the latest incident is relevant or not."

Criteria for riot behaviour

Dr Chris Cocking, a psychologist specialising in crowd behaviour at the University of Brighton, says that riots are "complicated group events".

Broadly, they usually have two main criteria - an initial trigger event and a wider social context of "disenfranchisement and alienation", he says.

Sometimes a specific trigger in each location - such as a misstep in the police response - can also help turn crowd behaviour from protest to "violent disorder", he adds.

But in these particular riots, he says there is less evidence of local triggers and instead an existing preparedness for violent action among some from the outset.

Dr Squirrell says the far right employs a three-tier "tech stack".

"They use one platform, say Telegram, which is unmoderated and relatively private, to organise a core group going out onto the streets. And then they use another, like X, which has a larger audience, to amplify their message," he says.

"And then there's a third platform, such as TikTok, which has live streaming capacity and a much, much larger audience, which can document, live stream, and to some degree monetize, with people giving tips and gifts in response."

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called an emergency COBRA meeting on Monday, warning that those engaging in "far-right thuggery" would regret their actions and "feel the full force of the law".

In many places, counter protests have been staged - often far outnumbering the far-right presence and sometimes resulting in clashes.

Although the identity of the Southport suspect has been clarified, the rioting has continued with migrant and Muslim spaces still targeted.

Asked why this is the case, Dr Cocking echoes Dr Squirrell's argument.

"People who already have negative views towards Islam will be more receptive to messages trying to link the two even when there is no objectively confirmed evidence, and so that that can explain the continued influence and behaviour," he says.