Far-right and anti-immigrant demonstrations across Britain descended into violence at the weekend, including clashes with riot police outside a hotel housing asylum seekers, following misinformation about a mass stabbing that killed three children at a dance class last week.

It was not clear how many people were injured in the Rotherham hotel siege, or how far the demonstrators went inside, but photos showed confrontations between police and protesters, violence that Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned as “far-right thuggery.”

“Be in no doubt, those that have participated in this violence will face the full force of the law,” he said in a speech Sunday afternoon.

At the same time Starmer denounced the violence, his government announced a new rapid-response process for mosque leaders to call for additional security support. “To those who feel targeted because of the colour of your skin or faith, I know how frightening this must be,” he said, adding: “This violent mob do not represent our country, and we will bring them to justice.”

The criticism crossed party lines. Rishi Sunak, leader of the opposition center-right Conservative Party, said the violent acts are not related to last week’s stabbing and that the perpetrators “must face the full weight of the law.”

Meanwhile, a lecturer at the Department of History, University of Lagos, Prof. David Aworawo, has said the riots in UK is part of the wave of right-wing resurgence across Europe, where they propagated disinformation that it was an immigrant that perpetuated the stabbing that killed three girls in Southport, while it was a British from Rwandan descent.

He noted that the situation is disturbing because the inclusiveness and multiculturalism that many countries seek is being disrupted by people like those in the right wing.

Aworawo expressed optimism that moving forward, more centrist resurgence would take place to significantly reduce the popularity of these groups and their capacity to carry out violence.