By: Rachel Chen

Last weekend, many people protested on the streets of the United Kingdom. More than 150 people were arrested because the protests became violent. An emergency meeting has been announced to be held in Downing Street on Monday because of this.

Numerous people got violent with the police in places like Rotherham, Middlesbrough, Bolton, Hull, Liverpool, Bristol, Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent, Blackpool and Belfast. However, other small parts of the UK had no issues.

Other protests have been happening as well over the past few weeks. One incident in Southport involved 11 adults and children hurt, as well as 3 deaths. This happened in an attack at a dance and yoga group on Monday, July 29th.

Many people say that the protests from last weekend were mostly held by far-right groups, which are groups of people who have extreme views about things like immigration, race, or national identity. These groups threw objects such as bottles, damaging shops as well, and attacked the UK police.

After this event, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer gave the UK police the government’s “full support” to have the ability to take action against “extremists” attempting to “sow hate.” Starmer also introduced a “standing army” filled with special police officers to deal with more protests across all of the UK.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, also the government’s minister in charge of the police, believes the UK streets should be a safe place for anyone. She said, “Criminal violence and disorder has no place on Britain’s streets.”