UK riots fact checked: latest updates and key questions answered

Outbreaks of violent disorder have been occurring across England and in Northern Ireland in the wake of a stabbing attack which killed three children and wounded others in Southport on 29 July.

Demonstrators, some reportedly involved with or mobilised by far-right groups, have clashed with police officers and counter-protesters in numerous locations. This comes after misinformation was spread online about the identity of the 17-year-old male suspect, with false claims that he was called “Ali Al-Shakati” and was an asylum seeker who had recently come to the UK by boat.

On 1 August, reporting restrictions were lifted and the suspect, who has now been charged, was named as Axel Muganwa Rudakubana. Merseyside Police had previously confirmed he was born in Cardiff.

This explainer answers key questions about the riots, tracks where they have taken place and fact checks some of the claims circulating online. It was last updated at 5pm on Friday 9 August and the information below is correct as of then.

We have been regularly updating this article in recent days. If you’ve seen something we should add, or have a question you’d like us to answer, please let us know here. 

Where have protests taken place?

While some of the protests have passed off without incident, others have resulted in violent disorder. 

We’ve mapped some of the reports we’ve seen of incidents which have resulted in arrests below, though this list may not be comprehensive (and in some of the incidents listed, the protest or counter-protest may have passed off largely peacefully).

Despite warnings that a large number of protests were planned for Wednesday evening  (7 August), there was little disorder as thousands of anti-racism protesters turned out across England. 

Rumours and false claims circulating online

Since the violent disorder and protests first began, we’ve fact checked a number of different claims circulating on social media. These include:

• A false claim that two protesters were “stabbed by Muslims” during a protest in Stoke-on-Trent on 3 August. Staffordshire Police said two men were hit by a “blunt object that was thrown in the air” and added that “no stabbings have been reported to police”.

• Another unsubstantiated rumour circulating on social media in recent days is that a Muslim woman was attacked with acid in Middlesbrough. In a statement on Saturday (3 August), Cleveland Police said that it had not “to date, received any formal complaint from any victim or anyone on their behalf”.
  
  “The force has not received notification from medical colleagues of any such incident either therefore our log has been closed, pending receipt of any new information,” it added.
• A video has also been shared on social media showing police with a young woman, with with a caption saying “Clip of young girl getting arrested” and asking: “Is this today? Is it true? If so it’s way too much of a coincidence.” 
  
  We’ve seen some speculation that this is very recent footage which is related to the current riots, but it isn’t. It appears to have been filmed on 17 July when the group Youth Demand was staging a pro-Palestinian demonstration in London ahead of the King’s Speech, at which ten protesters were arrested. The woman in the video also appeared in this Getty images photo and the opening seconds of this TikTok video of the protesters.

Some claims gaining traction online do appear to have been substantiated, however, including one a reader asked us about.

British Transport Police has urged the public to be vigilant after a commuter at Dunton Green train station in Kent reported discovering a razor blade concealed underneath a sticker saying “right for whites” with the branding of the far-right group the National Front.

PC Nick Hubbard of Kent Police said: “If you come across any ‘hate-inspired stickers’ in public places, please do not attempt to remove them yourself. Instead, immediately notify the police.”

We wrote more about the role online misinformation has played in fuelling the riots earlier this month, and others, including the BBC, Channel 4, Sky News and the Guardian, have published their own analyses of how the misinformation has spread.

What’s the government doing about it? 

On Monday (5 August), the government held a Cobra (or COBR) meeting—a meeting of the Civil Contingencies Committee, a group of ministers and officials convened to deal with crises and emergencies. 

Following the meeting, the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said a “standing army” of specialist police officers would be established “so that we’ll have enough officers to deal with this where we need them”, and that “we’ll ramp up criminal justice”. Mr Starmer said he’d asked for “early consideration of the earliest naming and identification of those involved”. He also said: “This is not protest, it is pure violence, and we will not tolerate attacks on mosques or our Muslim communities”.

The Ministry of Justice said on Monday that it’ll create over 500 more prison places in the next month, accelerating pre-existing plans. On Sunday 4 August, the Home Office said mosques would be offered greater protections such as rapid security. 

The government also held a Cobra meeting on Tuesday (6 August) and again on Thursday (8 August). 

Courts are not yet sitting 24/7 to deal with cases, as they did in response to the 2011 riots.

What are police doing?

Police have been called in to deal with the riots, and have faced attacks and been injured by demonstrators. As of Friday (9 August), they had made 595 arrests and around 150 people had been charged. A number of people have now been sentenced and others convicted over their roles in the disorder. A man in Leeds was sentenced on Friday (9 August) over social media posts he made in relation to the violence in the city. Two men who punched far-right rioters in Leeds were also sentenced on Friday (9 August). 

Under the system of mutual aid, police forces can assist other forces by providing officers when an event demands it. This has been used in response to some of the disorder. Speaking in Rotherham, where rioters attacked a hotel housing asylum seekers, the defence secretary John Healey said officers from South Yorkshire were assisted by officers from West Yorkshire, Cheshire and the British Transport Police. 

On Friday, the chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), Gavin Stephens, said: “We are working hard to bring this disorder to an end, but arrests are just getting started – and we have already made hundreds. We won’t stop until communities get the justice they deserve after suffering such violence and the spreading of online hate. 

“While the previous two nights have been a welcome break from the appalling scenes of the last week, and may have reached a turning point, we are by no means complacent.”

The NPCC says hundreds more suspects will be arrested in the coming weeks. 

Who are the protesters? 

With an increasing number of those suspected of being involved in the disorder now appearing in court, we are starting to find out more about their identities. 

The youngest thought to have been arrested is an 11-year-old boy in Teesside, who was suspected of arson after a police car was set alight. The oldest to appear in court so far is thought to be a 69-year-old welder from Liverpool. 

Many of those charged are male, but there have also been a number of cases involving female protesters. And a Telegraph analysis of the addresses of 65 suspects who had been charged found most appeared to be based in the area where they were arrested, though there is evidence of some individuals travelling from further afield to participate in the violent disorder. 

Police have reportedly said those involved in the protests include far-right agitators, local people and young people. It’s also worth noting that many protesting have done so peacefully and without being involved in any disorder, while thousands of anti-racism protestors have also joined counter-protests.

What penalties do rioters face?

Those involved in the protests could potentially face a number of charges, depending on the activities they are involved in. Some of the possible offences could result in lengthy custodial sentences.

Relevant offences may include: violent disorder and riot; various forms of criminal damage; threatening behaviour and other public order offences; assaulting an emergency worker; non-domestic burglary and online offences. The sentencing for these offences can range from a fine to life imprisonment.

How many prison places are available?

As of 9 August, the total prison population in England and Wales was 87,496. The useable operational capacity of the prison estate is currently 88,936, suggesting there are 1,440 places available. 

However these figures do not take account of the additional “operating margin”, which “reflects the constraints imposed by the need to provide appropriate accommodation for different classes of prisoner i.e. by sex, age, security category, conviction status, single cell risk assessment and also due to geographical distribution”.

That margin is currently set at 1,350. So in theory there are a total of 2,790 spaces available throughout the estate, but in practice only 1,440 of them are actually “useable”. 

Last month there were reportedly only 700 spaces available in closed men’s prisons. Prisons have been operating in excess of 99% capacity since 2023, according to Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood.

On Tuesday (6 August), the courts minister Heidi Alexander said an already-planned increase of 567 prison places was being brought forward to provide additional capacity.

They will now be available from the week of 12 August. Some of the spaces will be at the repurposed HMP Cookham Wood, a former young offender institution in Kent, that was closed in March after it was called “inhumane” by a prison watchdog. The remaining places will be in a new housing block at HMP Stocken in Rutland, East Midlands.

In both cases, these plans were in place prior to the general election.

Could the army be called out?

On Sunday (4 August), former First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf said “the police clearly do not have a handle on this situation”, and asked of the Prime Minister: “How much worse does it have to get before the army is sent in?”

The defence secretary John Healey has said the army will not be called out to assist the police response to the unrest. Speaking on Monday (5 August), he said it’s “the police’s responsibility to respond first and currently they’ve got the means to do it”. 

Mr Starmer said on Monday, following the Cobra meeting, that a “standing army of specialist officers, public duty officers” would be established, “so we’ll have enough officers to deal with this where we need them”. But this “standing army” won’t be the actual armed forces. 

The armed forces can assist civil authorities who ask for aid, including local authorities and the police, through requests known as Military Aid to Civil Authorities. Military support can be given to law enforcement agencies in order to help the “maintenance of law, order and public safety using specialist capabilities or equipment beyond that of civil powers”. Most members of the armed forces are unable to arrest people, though the Ministry of Defence has its own specialist armed police force. 

The Army wasn’t called in to help aid the response to the 2011 riots.

Will Parliament be recalled?

Parliament ‘rose’ for its summer recess on 30 July, and is next due to sit on 2 September. Following the disorder in the week since the Southport stabbings, several MPs have called for Parliament to be recalled sooner. 

At the time of writing, the Prime Minister has so far rejected these calls, reportedly saying his focus was on stopping the disorder and making sure the streets were safe. 

While there’s no clear view on what proceedings would take place if Parliament were recalled, it would potentially allow the government to give a statement to MPs on its response to the disorder, and MPs to question the government on that response. It could in theory be used to pass new or emergency measures, although there is no indication at present the government is considering measures that require formal parliamentary approval. 

Beyond Westminster, the Northern Ireland Assembly was recalled on Thursday (8 August) to debate a motion condemning the criminal damage that has been seen in recent days, and rejecting “all forms of Islamophobia, xenophobia and racism”.

Parliament was recalled during its summer recess in August 2011 to debate the riots taking place in London and elsewhere at that time. 

Is the PM on holiday?

There has been speculation that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had been planning a holiday, has postponed a holiday in order to focus on dealing with the current disorder, or hasn’t ruled out going on holiday shortly. According to Politico, “traditionally” political journalists are told the PM is going on holiday “officially just before it happens”.

Mr Starmer has been working from Downing Street in recent days, and has spoken to the media from Downing Street.