London riots: More than 100 protesters after objects thrown at police | United Kingdom | News

The Metropolitan Police have arrested more than 100 people during the London riots as protests continue to rock the country following the Southport stabbings.

Violence has flared up across the country, including in the capital, Manchester, Aldershot and Hartlepool where police were attacked with missiles, glass bottles and eggs, according to Cleveland police.

Protesters took to Whitehall on Wednesday under the banner “Enough is enough”, and dozens of arrests were made after protesters clashed with police.

The Metropolitan Police said: “More than 100 people have been arrested for offences including violent disorder, assaulting an emergency services worker and breaching the conditions of the protest. Some officers have suffered minor injuries.”

Rioters threw beer cans and glass bottles at a line of riot police outside Downing Street and fired flares at the statue of Britain’s wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square.

Angry slogans such as “We want our country back” and “Oh Tommy Robinson” were chanted during the unrest, in reference to the far-right activist and founder of the far-right Islamophobic group English Defence League.

Cleveland police said officers had made eight arrests for offences including disorderly conduct and affray after violence broke out in Hartlepool on the same day. More arrests are expected.

Chief Superintendent David Sutherland said: “At this stage we believe the protest is linked to the incident in Southport earlier this week.

“Our officers are encountering projectiles, glass bottles and eggs being thrown at them and have made arrests as they remain in the area to protect the safety of people living in the community.”

The unrest came after violence erupted in Southport on Tuesday following a separate vigil for three girls killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in the seaside resort.

Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were fatally stabbed on Monday when a knifeman entered the dance class on Hart Street in Southport, Merseyside.

Eight other children were stabbed – five of them in critical condition – while two adults were also seriously injured.

Southport police officers were seriously injured after bricks, stones and bottles were thrown. Cars were set alight during violent protests. The unrest near the town’s mosque came after false rumours circulated online about the suspect, who has now been arrested. charged with murder and attempted murder.

Community Inspector Doug Chadwick said the public was “shocked and disappointed” by the “shameful” scenes of rioting and urged the public to come forward with information about what they had seen. Five people have been arrested so far following the disturbances in Southport, in which 53 police officers and three police dogs were injured.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will welcome senior police officers to Downing Street later today following the unrest.

He is expected to remind the police that people who “exploit” the right to protest to “sow hatred” or commit “acts of violence” must be punished with “the full force of the law”.

Sir Keir will also pledge to work in partnership with police forces across the UK to end the “senseless violence” that follows scenes of unrest.

The 17-year-old boy accused of the Southport attack has been remanded in custody and will appear at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday.