Poll reveals what number of Brits again controversial protests and riots

The majority of Brits do not support the violent anti-immigrant riots that have swept across the UK over the last week, a new poll reveals.

Angry far-right mobs have brought chaos to Britain’s streets — looting shops, setting fire to hotels and targeting police officers — in some of the worst disorder in over a decade.

Hundreds of people have been arrested so far, with some already appearing in court over the series of charges. 

Irrespective of what the rioters believe they are representing, it is clear their actions are not supported by members of the public. 

According to a YouGov poll, 85 per cent of Brits oppose the unrest, with just 7 per cent showing their support. 

Two-thirds of Brits believe the disorder is caused by rioters, thugs, racists and the far-right — and just 9 per cent labelled them as patriots.

Tensions were fuelled by misinformation online that the Southport suspect was a Muslim asylum seeker who arrived by boat, which boiled over onto the streets. 

And more outbreaks of violence are feared this week, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer calling an emergency COBRA meeting today to try to end the chaos. He will meet with top ministers and police chiefs for the second time in two days. 

The poll revealed only 21 per cent of Reform voters supported the rioting, while three-quarters (76%) opposed. 

And support among other parties is even lower, with only 9% of Conservative voters, 3% of Labour voters and 1% of Lib Dem voters in favour of the disorder.

The broader peaceful protests have garnered the support of one in three (34%) members of the public, but more than half (54%) opposed.

Reform UK voters backed the wider peaceful protests (81%), but they are the only party to show any great deal of support for them. 

Fewer than one in five Labour and Lib Dem (18 to 19%) voters supported the protests, while Conservatives were split on the matter (43% support and 48% oppose).  

The YouGov poll suggests sympathy for those taking part in the protests is broader.

Six in ten Brits (58%) said they had a fair amount of sympathy for those involved in the wider peaceful protests. This included majorities from all party voters.

However, just 8 per cent of Brits sympathise with the rioters.

When asked who is responsible for the rioting, nine in ten Brits believe the rioters themselves are somewhat responsible for causing the unrest. 

But social media has been seen as a dominating factor in stirring up tensions, with 86% of the public viewing it as a key driving force. 

The media has also been blamed by seven in ten Brits as having driven the riots to some degree with one only one in five believing they are not responsible.  

Only 46% of the public believe that the recent violence has really been to do with the Southport murders, with a similar number (47%) viewing Reform UK leader Nigel Farage as holding some level of responsibility for the unrest. 

Far-right activist Tommy Robinson has also been blamed for stoking the riots, with 57 per cent of the public saying he is partially responsible. 

Over the weekend, around 700 violent anti-immigration rioters clad in balaclavas and draped in St George’s flags clashed with officers trying to protect the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. 

At least 10 officers were injured in the chaos outside the hotel on the northern outskirts of the post-industrial town. One was left unconscious following a head injury, another suffered a suspected fractured elbow and other suspected broken bones.

Crowds in Middlesbrough set fire to a car and pushed burning wheelie bins at police, while thugs in Rotherham smashed windows and doors.

Meanwhile, a peaceful protest in Bolton descended into chaos when two groups of demonstrators clashed. One charged towards the town hall shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ while the other waved England flags.

Similar scenes could be seen in Weymouth, as around 400 protesters from opposing sides gathered on the seafront to chant at each other. One side could be heard chanting ‘Nazis go home’, while the other shouted ‘Tommy Robinson‘. 

The outbursts came after three young girls were stabbed to death in Southport on July 29. 

Objects and pieces of wood were flung at officers who had lined up in front of the hotel in Rotherham with at least one cop in riot gear being carried away by their colleagues.

Keir Starmer vowed rioters would ‘regret’ taking part in ‘far-right thuggery’. 

Speaking from Downing Street, Sir Keir suggested that rioters taking to the streets, and those ‘whipping up this action online and then running away themselves,’ would face consequences.

The Home Office announced mosques would be offered greater protection under a new ‘rapid response process’ designed to quickly tackle the threat of further attacks on places of worship.

‘People in this country have a right to be safe, and yet we’ve seen Muslim communities targeted, attacks on mosques,’ the Prime Minister said on Sunday.

‘Other minority communities singled out, Nazi salutes in the street, attacks on the police, wanton violence alongside racist rhetoric, so no, I won’t shy away from calling it what it is: far-right thuggery.’