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The new Prime Minister Keir Starmer backed the officers. The emergency services have his full support in taking action against extremists who attack police officers and try to stir up hatred. This was announced by his spokesman after a meeting with several cabinet members. The riots are seen as the first test for the social democratic head of government, who has been in office for a month.

In the northern English town of Rotherham, a crowd of several hundred people gathered at a hotel where asylum seekers are housed. “You are not welcome here,” they shouted, and some threw objects at the building.

The anti-Muslim riots have been going on for days. The main reason is false reports on social media about the identity of a knife attacker who stabbed three girls aged six, seven and nine to death and injured several children and two adults, some of them critically, in the north-west English town of Southport on Monday. The motive is unclear.

The police stress that the 17-year-old suspect was born in Great Britain. His parents are from Rwanda. The right-wing populist MP Nigel Farage, who once played a key role in promoting Brexit, also speculated whether the authorities were hiding the truth. Critics accuse him of thereby fuelling the riots.

Police Secretary of State Diana Johnson told BBC Radio 4 that some people were afraid to go out on the streets because of the colour of their skin. In the Northern Irish capital of Belfast, a café and a supermarket run by Muslims burned down. Several cars were set on fire.

According to police, a community library in Liverpool, which serves as a support centre for poor people, suffered fire damage. Vandals tried to prevent the fire-fighting efforts, Merseyside Police reported. Shops were looted in several cities.

The Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Richard Kemp, identified three motives on Sky News: “Some people are angry – not for the right reasons, but they are – some people just want to fight and some just want to steal cigarettes and money from the till.”

The police association warned of staff shortages in everyday crime. Officers would have to be withdrawn to keep the rioters under control, said the head of the Police Federation of England and Wales, Tiffany Lynch, to the BBC. Secretary of State Johnson, on the other hand, stressed that the police had sufficient resources and announced further arrests.

According to police, ultranationalists and counter-demonstrators fought in Blackpool in northwest England. Arrests were also made in the nearby cities of Preston and Blackburn, as well as in Bristol in western England, Stoke-on-Trent in central England and Kingston upon Hull in northeast England, police said.

One of those calling for the protests – often near a mosque or a Muslim community center – was the well-known right-wing extremist and founder of the English Defence League, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson. He fled the country a week ago after failing to appear at a court hearing in a defamation case. Robinson is now spreading conspiracy theories from abroad.

Police warned of fake news being spread in chat groups encouraging people to take part in the protests. The agency denied reports on social media that two participants in an anti-Muslim march in Stoke-on-Trent had been stabbed. Two men suffered minor injuries when they were hit by blunt objects.

There have already been right-wing extremist protests in recent days, including in London’s government district. There are also calls for the government to put an end to the entry of migrants into the UK.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said lawbreakers would pay a heavy price. “Violence has no place on our streets,” Cooper said. Her predecessor, James Cleverly, who is seeking to succeed Rishi Sunak as leader of the Conservative Party, called for a tougher crackdown.