ELECTORAL POLITICS| GOVERNMENT POLICY 

6 August: A YouGov poll shows that opposition to the far-right riots is near-universal across the public, with Reform UK voters the only group showing any substantive levels of support at 21 per cent. Even this is a clear minority, with three-quarters of Reform voters (76 per cent) opposed to the violent disorder. (YouGov, 6 August 2024)  

7 August: In response to Sky News questioning about ‘two-tier policing’, Conservative leadership contender Robert Jenrick calls on police to arrest protesters shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’, claiming that pro-Palestinian demonstrations have not been properly policed. (Guardian, 7 August 2024)  

7 August: Communities minister Jim McMahon tells Times Radio that while he rejects claims of ‘two-tier policing’, he understands ‘where the narrative comes from’, particularly in relation to an incident in Birmingham where counter-protesters targeted a pub. (Yahoo News, 7 August 2024)  

7 August: Lucy Connolly, the partner of a Northampton Conservative councillor, is charged with inciting racial hatred after allegedly posting on X, on the day of the Southport killings, ‘Mass deportation now, set fire to all the fucking hotels full of the bastards for all I care… If that makes me racist, so be it’. (Standard, 7 August 2024; Guardian, 10 August 2024) 

8 August: Newly elected Rochester and Strood Labour MP Lauren Edwards apologises for a ‘significant error of judgement’ after a 2009 social media posts emerge including the comment, ‘I want these f**** Estonian retards out of my flat now’. (Metro, 8 August 2024) 

9 August: Kent councillor Ricky Jones is suspended from the Labour party following his arrest for allegedly encouraging violent disorder after being filmed addressing a crowd at an anti-racist demonstration in Walthamstow. (Guardian, 9 August 2024)  

9 August: Paymaster-general Nick Thomas-Symonds says that he does not think it is helpful for politicians to encourage people to attend peaceful protests while police forces are stretched. (Guardian, 9 August 2024) 

10 August: As concerns grow that the Conservative leadership contest will draw the party towards ‘Reform-lite’, veteran Conservative politicians accuse senior Conservative figures of fuelling the riots with ‘divisive language’ on immigration, pointing out that rioters carried signs utilising Rishi Sunak’s slogan, ‘Stop the Boats’. (Guardian, 10 August 2024) 

18 August: The Home Office commissions a rapid review to inform the government’s counter-extremism strategy on how best to tackle extremist ideologies, including violent misogyny, online and offline. (Guardian, 18 August 2024) 

ANTI-FASCISM AND THE FAR RIGHT 

Examples of racist actions that accompanied the far-right riots, and convictions for racially motivated violence in relation to the riots, are documented in the racial violence section.  

7 August: Amid threats of hundreds of far-right protests, parts of England go into shutdown with shops boarded up, legal offices shut and GP practices closed early. Tens of thousands of anti-racists turn out across the country in peaceful rallies to protect asylum hotels, advice centres and other sites listed as far-right targets. In most places, the far Right fails to appear. (Reuters, 7 August 2024; Guardian, 7 August 2024; Independent, 8 August 2024)  

9 August: A neo-Nazi from Wales who uploaded an ethnic cleansing document and several ‘strategy’ documents relating to the far-right terrorist organisation National Action is sentenced to 9 years and 9 months in prison. (WalesOnline, 9 August 2024) 

9 August: In Belfast, around 1,000 anti-racist demonstrators oppose a far-right rally where several hundred chant ‘send them home’ and carry placards stating, ‘Shankill Road says no to illegal immigration’. An anti-racist rally to support health workers facing racist violence is held at Altnagelvin Hospital, Derry. (Belfast Live, 9 August 2024; RTE, 10 August 2024) 

A huge turnout at Belfast City Hall for the anti-racist rally – this is the real heart of the city, not the bigots who sow division and hate. pic.twitter.com/BWbPlQ6yz3

— UCU at Queen’s (@ucuatqub) August 9, 2024

9 August: A promised far-right attack on an asylum hotel in Paisley is called off as hundreds of anti-fascists mobilise in its defence. (National, 10 August 2024)  

10 August: As far-right protests largely fail to materialise, massive anti-racist rallies take place in towns and cities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In London, protesters  gather outside Reform UK’s London office and accuse Farage of ‘dangerous rhetoric’. Around 15,000 people appear in Belfast in one of the city’s largest ever anti-racist gatherings. (Euronews, 11 August 2024; ITV, 10 August 2024) 

10 August: In Yeovil, Somerset, four arrests, including for racially aggravated public disorderly behaviour, are made following a ‘small anti-immigration gathering’ where anti-racists outnumber the far Right ten to one. (Guardian, 11 August 2024; Somerset Live, 11 August 2024) 

11 August: Palestinians in Britain have been targeted by racism and Islamophobia over the last weeks, says the British Palestinian Committee. Government and media complicity in Israel’s genocide and the demonisation of ceasefire demonstrations as ‘hate marches’ has directly fuelled the far-right mobilisations. (British Palestinian Committee, 11 August 2024) 

12 August: A fundraiser for Middlesbrough carer Brendan Nwabichie, who had his car destroyed during the far-right riots, raises £65,000, with the remaining money going to local charities. (Guardian, 12 August 2024)  

15 August: An analysis in Tribune finds that 7 towns experiencing far-right riots are listed among the 10 most deprived areas of the country, indicating that there was ‘a concerted effort’ by the far Right to target deprived areas in the North-East. (Tribune, 15 August 2024) 

16 August: Two teenagers from Hertfordshire are charged with preparation of terrorist acts in relation to suspected far-right extremist activity. One of the teens also faces charges for possessing a firearm and for collecting information likely to be of use to a terrorist. (Guardian, 16 August 2024) 

18 August: The day after anti-racists outnumber the far-right in Dover, an anti-immigration ‘Enough is Enough’ rally is staged in Bournemouth, with counter-protesters once again outnumbering the far Right. (BBC, 18 August 2024) 

19 August: An investigation by anti-fascist researchers reveals that neo-Nazi Charles-Emmanuel Mikko Rasanen from Espoo, southern Finland, was behind arson threats to English immigration-related services. Rasanen is linked to Patriotic Alternative. (Red Flare, 19 August 2024) 

POLICING| PRISONS| CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM 

6 August: Commenting on far-right-related charging decisions, the Director of Public Prosecutions says that he will consider bringing terrorism offences if it can be proved that ‘organised groups have planned activity for the purposes of advancing [an] ideology’, and that one such case is currently being reviewed. (BBC News, 6 August 2024) 

7 August: Met chief Sir Mark Rowley says that claims of ‘two-tier policing’ are ‘complete nonsense’ and put officers at risk, while former chief inspector of constabulary Sir Thomas Winsor notes that there is a fundamental difference between ‘noisy’ pro-Palestine protests and the ‘violent disorder’ that we see now. (Yahoo News, 7 August 2024) 

8 August: A second Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officer is under criminal investigation for alleged assault after a video circulates online of violence taking place at Manchester Airport, involving a Rochdale family and a number of GMP officers. (Manchester Evening News, 8 August 2024) 

9 August: Sameer Ali and Adnan Ghafoor, two Muslim Asian men who say they were racially abused, are jailed for 20 months and two and a half years for affray after clashing with four men, two of whom were draped in Union Jack flags, in an incident in Leeds, following a far-right presence in the city. (BBC News, 9 August 2024) 

9 August: The government confirms that victims of historic miscarriages of justice who had board and lodging costs deducted from compensation payments, in many cases amounting to over £100,000, will not be refunded, despite a rule change last year ending the deductions. (BBC, 9 August 2024)  

10 August: The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) say that 779 people have been arrested in connection with the riots and 349 charged so far, with detectives using a variety of sources to identify suspects, including drone and body-worn video footage. More than 200 police have been injured, 93 of whom are from Merseyside. (Guardian, 9 August 2024; Guardian, 12 August 2024) 

12 August: The Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) says that the UK has a ‘two-tier approach’ to extremism, with far-right attacks classified as ‘mere thuggery’ or ‘hooliganism’ by politicians, prosecutors and the security services, and treated less seriously than Islamist attacks, suggesting institutional bias and racism. The far-right riots exposed these ‘double-standards’ and the prime minister has understated the politically driven actions of the far Right, it says. (Guardian, 12 August 2024) 

12 August: The Met Police apologises for failing to prevent the killings of Naomi Hunte and Fiona Holm, two vulnerable Black domestic murder victims, that occurred in south London in 2022. The family of Fiona Holm believe that her race played a part in the police decision not to treat her allegations seriously. (Channel 4, 12 August 2024)  

12 August: The West Midlands Police Federation secretary says that while he welcomes the home secretary’s support for the use by police of reasonable force during the riots, she should further support vulnerable firearms officers by legislating to overturn the ruling in the case of the W80 firearms officer who shot dead Jermaine Baker. (West Midlands Police Federation, 12 August 2024)   

12 August: The Alliance for Youth Justice calls for an end to child imprisonment, stating that responsibility for child prisoners should be transferred from the Ministry of Justice to the Department of Education, and that imprisoned children are receiving far less than the promised 30 hours a week of ‘education and purposeful activity’. (Guardian, 12 August 2024) 

14 August: 27 campaign groups, including Amnesty, Privacy International and Big Brother Watch, write to the prime minister expressing concern about the wider deployment of facial recognition technology, which Starmer referred to along with shared intelligence and criminal behaviour orders for policing public order in the wake of the far-right riots. (Independent, 14 August 2024) 

14 August: A joint report by Runnymede Trust and Amnesty to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination calls out reliance on artificial intelligence in policing, particularly in facial recognition technology, for reproducing and perpetuating racism in policing. (Digit News, 14 August 2024) 

 14 August: A judge sentences a Muslim man, 24-year-old Amer Walid, to 20 months for throwing objects, including a beer can, that had been thrown at him by ‘anti-immigration protesters’ in Plymouth, telling him that he should have ‘risen above’ the ‘obnoxious racism’ he encountered. The judge accepts that Amer, who had no previous convictions, was provoked. (Plymouth Herald, 14 August 2024) 

15 August: At Teesside Crown Court, 24-year-old Noman Ahmed is jailed for 14 months for throwing a punch at two white men while attempting to protect a mosque. The judge accepts that Ahmed had gone to defend his mosque and had been told of people making ‘racial slurs and threats’ but says that this does ‘not mitigate’ his culpability and only imprisonment is appropriate. (BBC News, 15 August 2024, Daily Mail, 16 August 2024) 

19 August: A Children’s Commissioner report finds that Black children are four times more likely than their white peers to be strip-searched, with 90 percent of all searches being made for drugs and under-15s most commonly subjected to the procedure. In the year to June 2023, over half of all strip searches were conducted without an appropriate adult present. (Guardian, 19 August 2024) 

18 August: A date for the gross misconduct hearings of three Met police officers involved in the December 2020 strip-search of Child Q is yet to be set and may not be heard until 2025. (Guardian, 18 August 2024) 

19 August: As a result of the jailing of around 300 rioters, the government implements Operation Early Dawn, which amongst other things prevents inmates from being taken from police cells to courts unless a prison place is available. (Guardian, 19 October 2024; Observer, 17 August 2024) 

NATIONAL SECURITY AND ANTI- TERRORISM 

10 August: Six Palestine Action activists are detained under the Terrorism Act after being arrested for entering Elbit Systems’ Filton, Bristol, a new £35m R&D hub of Israel’s biggest weapons firm. (Palestine Action, 10 August 2024) 

15 August: The CPS drops a case against University of Portsmouth academic Amira Abdelhamid, whose house was raided by counter-terrorism police two months after her employer referred her to Prevent for a series of posts about the 7 October attacks. (Middle East Eye, 15 August 2024) 

ASYLUM | MIGRATION | BORDERS | CITIZENSHIP  

Asylum and migrant rights 

8 August: Home Office data shows that applications for international student visas have fallen by a third so far this year and that visa applications from health and care workers fell by 81 per cent following rule changes restricting the entry of family members of students and care workers. (THE, 8 August 2024, Home Office, 8 August 2024) 

9 August: 137 groups, including frontline advice centres, charities, law centres and support groups, call on the home secretary to immediately suspend migrants’ bail reporting conditions owing to danger of attack from the far Right. (Migrants Organise, 9 August 2024)  

19 August: The New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy Delivery Plan 2024-26, developed jointly by the Scottish government, local authorities (COSLA) and the Scottish Refugee Council to help refugees and asylum seekers understand their rights, is launched at Glasgow University. (National, 19 August 2024)   

Borders and internal controls 

11 August: As two people die off the coast of northern France and 53 others are rescued and taken back to Calais, the family of Dina Al Shammari, who died attempting the crossing a fortnight ago, say that, as members of the stateless and rightless Arab minority of Bidoons from Kuwait, they have no choice but to try again. (BBC, 11 August 2024) 

11 August: In Sweden, opposition swells to a proposed ‘snitch law’, based in part on ‘hostile environment’ measures in the UK, which would force public sector workers to report undocumented service users to immigration authorities. (Guardian, 11 August 2024) 

14 August: Frontex reports that irregular journeys to the EU have dropped by over a third in the first half of 2024 as a result of ‘cash for migration control’ deals with countries including Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. (EU Observer, 14 August 2024) 

15 August: A Marine Accident Investigation Branch report into the eight deaths caused by the sinking of a dinghy in the Channel in December 2022, after which asylum seeker Ibrahima Bah was convicted of manslaughter, concludes that the dinghy was even more poorly constructed than most making the journey, and fell apart. (Guardian, 15 August 2024) 

Reception and detention 

18 August: Three-quarters of asylum seekers stuck at the ‘remote and prison-like’ Wethersfield camp are in ‘severe psychological distress’, with 4 in 10 having had suicidal thoughts, according to doctors from Médecins sans Frontières and Doctors of the World. (inews, 19 August 2024)  

19 August: Data shared with the Guardian reveals that 28 people died in Home Office accommodation in the first half of 2024—double the number in the same period of 2023—and that suicides in Home Office accommodation have doubled since 2020. (Guardian, 19 August 2024) 

Deportations

21 August: Home secretary Yvette Cooper announces plans to recruit 100 investigators to target people-smuggling gangs, and other measures such as more raids on employers hiring undocumented staff and  higher charter deportation rates for refused asylum seekers, with 300 caseworkers reassigned to removals. (Guardian, 21 August 2024)

Citizenship 

7 August: The Supreme Court refuses Shamima Begum permission to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal upholding the deprivation of her British citizenship. Her lawyers say that they will take the case to the European Court of Human Rights. (Guardian, 7 August 2024) 

EDUCATION  

7 August: The Bulgarian parliament passes a law banning ‘propaganda, promotion, and incitement’ of non-traditional sexual orientations and non-biological gender identities in educational settings, leading gay rights groups to call on the European Commission to sanction the government. (Forbidden Colours, 8 August 2024)  

8 August: The Community Security Trust reports its highest half-year figure for antisemitism affecting people and property in schools, including 16 incidents of assault among the 162 incidents recorded. (TES, 8 August 2024) 

8 August: Matthew Goodwin leaves his post as politics professor at the University of Kent. During the recent far-right violence, he made social media posts linking the Southport attacks to ‘our broken policy of mass immigration’ and saying that Britain is not a ‘happy… country’ because there ‘are mobs of Muslims chanting Allahu Akbar rather than waving the Union Jack’. (THE, 8 August 2024) 

9 August: A report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) reveals that while school absence rates have fallen over the past academic year, absences increased among pupils with education, health and care plans and the ‘absence gap’ between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has risen. Asian and Black pupils have greater reduction in absences than white pupils and on average continue to miss fewer days of school. (TES, 9 August 2024) 

10 August: Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson says that the government’s curriculum review ‘will develop plans to embed critical skills in lessons to arm our children against the disinformation, fake news and putrid conspiracy theories awash on social media’. (Guardian, 10 August 2024) 

15 August: In Cottbus, Germany, foreign students choose to live in protected communities over the fear of an AfD victory in the upcoming Brandenburg state parliament elections. The university is the first in Germany to implement a programme against right-wing extremism. (DW, 15 August 2024)  

HOUSING | POVERTY| WELFARE 

19 August: Statistics reveal that the number of rough sleepers in London has more than tripled since 2008/09 to nearly 12,000 in 2023/24, and that the proportion of rough sleepers who are white has fallen from 71 percent in 2011 to 43 percent, with Black people making up a quarter of rough sleepers. (Trust for London, 19 August 2024)  

EMPLOYMENT| EXPLOITATION| INDUSTRIAL ACTION 

6 August: The Royal College of GPs condemns far-right violence, highlighting reports of GPs and other healthcare professionals from an ethnic minority background being attacked and facing racist abuse at work. (Standard, 6 August 2024) 

8 August: The IWGB, representing delivery drivers, writes to gig economy bosses demanding that they do more to protect vulnerable workers from racial violence, stating that riders have received ‘thoughtless and borderline offensive statements from companies and that there are frequent threats from the public to their safety’. (X, IWGB, 8 August 2024) 

We’re incredibly proud of the grassroots mobilisation by anti-racist groups against the far-right yesterday.

However, the threat still persists and gig platforms are not doing enough to protect vulnerable workers.

We’ve written to gig economy bosses demanding immediate action. pic.twitter.com/frjo35Gfv4

— IWGB (@IWGBunion) August 8, 2024

11 August: EU statistical office Eurostat reports that over the last decade, EU non-national residents’ ‘formal qualifications are not fully used in the labour market’. Citizens of other EU countries are on average over-qualified compared to nationals and the rate is even worse for non-EU citizens working in Europe. (THE, 11 August 2024) 

12 August: The TUC publishes ‘Protecting workers from the risks of violence and racism’, a resource for union safety reps to ensure better protection for Black staff members, including those carrying out duties or journeys where they may be an increased risk of racist abuse or attacks. (TUC, 12 August 2024) 

17 August: In Cyprus, Wolt delivery service condemns racist attacks against delivery drivers and the failure of the authorities to respond. Delivery drivers in Limassol stage protests, including a three-day-ban on all deliveries after 8pm. (Cyprus Mail, 17 August 2024) 

19 August: Data from the Royal College of Nursing reveals that complaints by migrant care workers of being trapped in exploitative contracts have risen sixfold in the past three years, with 134 reports of employers demanding large sums from workers seeking to leave compared with 22 three years ago. (Guardian, 19 August 2024)  

CULTURE | MEDIA | SPORT 

While we cannot cover all incidents of racist abuse on sportspersons or their responses, we provide a summary of the most important incidents. For more information follow Kick it Out. 

6 August: After tweeting that Britain is heading for civil war, the billionaire owner of X, Elon Musk, repeats Farage and Tommy Robinson’s claims regarding ‘two-tier policing’ in the UK, calling the prime minister ‘two-tier Keir’. (Guardian, 6 August 2024)  

6 August: The Director of Public Prosecutions says he will consider seeking the extradition of social media influencers if it is proved that they committed offences that contributed to the current ‘violent disorder’. (BBC News, 6 August 2024) 

7 August: The Crown Prosecution Service announces on X that it takes ‘online violence seriously and will prosecute when the legal test is met’. (X, CPS, 7 August 2024) 

8 August: A Byline Times investigation finds that a transatlantic network of far-right conspiracy theorists and technology platforms, with close ties to Donald Trump’s campaign and those behind the Capitol Hill insurrection, enabled the UK’s far-right riots. Elon Musk, the alt tech website Rumble (owned by the Republican senator of Ohio), JD Vance and billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel are all named. (Byline Times, 8 August 2024) 

9 August: The prime minister announces a review of the Online Safety Act, arguing that the spread of ‘falsehoods’ contributed to the far-right riots. Two men, from Northampton and Leeds, are jailed for publishing Facebook posts encouraging people to attack hotels accommodating asylum seekers. (Guardian, 9 August 2024) 

12 August: Former Twitter executive Bruce Daisley compares tech billionaires to unaccountable oligarchs and says that Elon Musk should face ‘personal sanctions’ and the threat of arrest if he stirred up public disorder on his social media platform. Musk deletes a post falsely suggesting Starmer was planning to set up ‘detainment camps’ in the Falklands. (Guardian, 12 August 2024) 

12 August: After the EU’s digital enforcer writes an open letter to Elon Musk, who had announced on X that he would interview Donald Trump, reminding him of his legal obligation to stop the ‘amplification of harmful content’, Musk, who already faces an EU action, tweets out a meme containing the words ‘Take a big step back and literally, fuck your own face’. (Politico, 12 August 2024) 

13 August: Derbyshire Law Centre announces it is disengaging from X, ‘which poses a real-world threat to the immigration advice and legal sector’. (X, Derbyshire Law Centre, 13 August 2024) 

 

Following the anti-immigration riots in the UK in August 2024, and the mis-information shared on X which posed a real-world threat to the Immigration Advice & Legal Sector we are no longer active on this channel. Please see our Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn for social posts. pic.twitter.com/q5kbFLc6IP

— Derbyshire Law Centre (@DerbyshireLC) August 13, 2024

14 August: An administrative court in Leipzig, Germany, overturns a publishing ban on the ‘Compact’ magazine, described as a ‘mouthpiece of the Right wing extremist scene’ by the German government. The court rules that while there is evidence the publication violated human dignity, the upholding of a free press takes precedence. (SwissInfo, 14 August 2024) 

15 August: Internal documents leaked by a Meta employee reveal that the social media company struggles to accurately moderate content in Hebrew, leading its policies on hate speech to be inequitable to Palestinians. Staff are said to be wary of raising concerns for fear of retaliation by Meta, whose priorities are described as ‘not about actually making sure content is safe for the community’. (Guardian, 15 August 2024)  

15 August: YouTube blocks the channel of Portuguese far-right organisation Grupo 1143 after a New York Times investigation links the group’s social media content to incidents in Portugal, the UK and other countries where its ‘vitriolic language is now spilling onto the streets’. (EuroNews, 15 August 2024) 

16 August: Richard Pyrah, who was handed a two-week coaching ban and ordered to pay a £2,500 fine after being found guilty of using racist and discriminatory language about Asian women in May last year, is appointed Yorkshire Cricket women’s head coach. (Guardian, 16 August 2024) 

18 August: Love Music Hate Racism, a successor to the Rock Against Racism organisation, reveals plans to organise unity gigs across towns and cities in the UK over the next 12 months. The organisation’s call for a united cultural movement against the far Right is backed by artists including Paloma Faith, Fontaines DC, Nadine Shah and Idles. (Guardian, 18 August 2024) 

RACIAL VIOLENCE AND HARASSMENT 

For details of court judgements on racially motivated and other hate crimes, see also POLICING | PRISONS | CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. 

6 August: After six gravestones in the Muslim section of Burnley cemetery are defaced and splashed with white paint, a local vicar calls for people of all and no faiths to come together to combat hate. (BBC News, 6 August 2024)  

8 August: A family in east Belfast with two children are forced out of their home and fear for their safety after a brick is thrown through their window as far-right rioting broke out in the area. (Belfast Live, 8 August 2024)  

9 August: The British Islamic Medical Association say members have received horrific abuse online, particularly from Belfast and Greater Manchester, and that the situation is ‘unprecedented’. The British Egyptian Medical Association says that those working in ‘frontline healthcare roles’ are facing a hostile environment. (Guardian, 9 August 2024) 

9 August: In the first conviction in Wales following recent far-right riots, Mold Magistrates’ Court sentences a man from Flintshire to 12 weeks in prison for sharing a derogatory meme about migrants and for posting about taking part in a riot. (WalesOnline, 9 August 2024)   

9 August: The head of Bima, an association representing Muslim health workers, report ‘unprecedented’ fear amongst NHS staff who face an increase in racist abuse since the beginning of far-right riots, with many living in fear and impacted personally and professionally. (Guardian, 9 August 2024) 

11 August: Northern Ireland police treat several recent attacks as racially motivated. A petrol bomb, which failed to ignite, was thrown was at a mosque in Newtownards Co. Down and graffiti was sprayed on the front door and walls. In Belfast, two cars are set alight, and workers are subjected to racial slurs as the rear door of a restaurant is kicked in. (Standard, 11 August 2024) 

11 August: Police in Switzerland arrest a 32-year-old man who allegedly doused a Zurich synagogue with petrol. The same synagogue was the site of an antisemitic attack on a man in March. (DW, 8 August 2024) 

14 August: In Rome, Italy, a mural depicting women’s volleyball gold medallist Paola Egonu hitting a ball with the words ‘Stop Racism’ is vandalised with pink spray paint, covering the athlete’s skin. (Guardian, 14 August 2024)  

15 August: Julia Sweeney, from Cheshire, is sentenced to 15 months in jail for posting a comment on Facebook that mosques should not be protected and should be ‘blown up with the adults in it’. (Al Jazeera, 15 August 2024)  

15 August: The Guardian publishes details of several convictions for racially-motivated attacks during the far-right riots. Joseph Ley is sentenced to three years and two months in prison for kicking a Black man in the face in Manchester. During the assault, members of the crowd shouted ‘kill him’ and ‘stamp on his fucking face’. Leeds Crown Court jails Phil Hoban for eight months for racially abusing pro-Palestinian demonstrators on 3 August. (Guardian, 15 August 2024).  

MWNUK highlighted on #SkyNews this morning in a report about Muslim women’s safety! We share results from our survey and emphasise the importance of reporting anti-Muslim hate crimes and advocating for Muslim women’s safety. pic.twitter.com/DPqxpUAvd8

— MWNUK (@MuslimWomenUK) August 18, 2024

16 August: Wayne O’Rourke from Lincoln, who has more than 90,000 followers on X, is jailed for three years for stirring up racial hated after alleging that the man who killed  three young girls in Stockport was Muslim  and praising the burning of a car in Sunderland.(BBC News, 16 August 2024)

18 August: The PSNI reports over two dozen separate race hate crimes in the past six weeks, on top of the large-scale street violence, while the Northern Ireland Housing Executive says that it has received reports of 22 hate crimes targeting tenants and staff in the first week of August. (Irish Times, 18 August 2024) 

18 August: A poll by the Muslim Women’s Network finds that 75 per cent of members surveyed are worried about their safety—a rise of almost 60 per cent since the far-right riots—with nearly one in five experiencing hostility since the Southport stabbings. (Sky News, 18 August 2024) 

19 August: A 17-year-old youth is arrested for disorderly behaviour and common assault in connection with assaults on ‘ethnic minority community’ members in South Belfast. Police describe the attack as a hate crime. (Belfast Media, 19 August 2024) 

19 August: Brendan O’Rourke of Lincolnshire is jailed for three years for stirring up hatred in online posts, including statements like ‘British people protecting mosques tonight will be deported with Muslims… traitors to your own’. He also described Elon Musk as a hero for telling people ‘what’s going on’. (Eastern Eye, 19 August 2024) 

This calendar is researched by IRR staff and compiled by Sophie Chauhan, with the assistance of Graeme Atkinson, Sam Berkson, Margaret McAdam and Louis Ordish. Thanks also to ECRE, the Never Again Association and Stopwatch, whose regular updates on asylum, migration, far Right, racial violence, employment and policing issues are an invaluable source of information. Find these stories and all others since 2014 on our searchable database, the Register of Racism and Resistance.