Protest planned in Cardiff today as police warn businesses

A protest by an anti-fascist organisation is planned for Cardiff today amid rumours of far-right groups possibly staging a demonstration in the city. The counter protests are being held in Cardiff city centre on Friday, August 9, amid reports circulated on social media, some unconfirmed, relating to action that could take place in Cardiff, Swansea, Tenby and Aberystwyth over the weekend.

Towns and cities across the UK have been thrown into turmoil over the last 11 days as demonstrations by far right groups in cities like Plymouth, Belfast, Liverpool and Southport have turned violent. Over 400 people have been arrested linked to disturbances caused from the riots with dozens of police officers injured. Several people have already been jailed as a result.

The riots started after the knife attack in Southport last Monday in which three young girls were killed and 10 others seriously injured. A 17-year-old born in Cardiff called Axel Rudakubana has since been charged with three counts of murder and ten counts of attempted murder, but the disorder that followed the stabbings came after misinformation circled on the internet about his identity, wrongly claiming he had arrived in the UK on a small boat. Join our WhatsApp news community here for the latest breaking news

While there have been rumours that the same far-right groups planned to protest in Cardiff, this failed to materialise on the weekend as more anti-fascist demonstrators responded. Over the last 48-hours tensions have dimmed across the UK with more peaceful counter protests taking to the streets rather than the violent scenes earlier in the week.

However, with fresh reports of planned far right protests in Cardiff, Swansea and Aberystwyth over the weekend, police