UK prepares for weekend of protests as Prime Minister launches national taskforce

The UK is preparing for a weekend of protests in the wake of the Southport stabbings, as Sir Keir Starmer announced a new “national” response to the violent disorder linking police forces across the country.

Demonstrators took to the streets in Manchester on Wednesday night (July 31), pelting riot police with bottles and attacking a man on a bus. It was just one of a number of protests across the country, including in London and Hartlepool.

At least 15 protests in various locations are being planned for the weekend, the PA news agency reports, with two counter-protests also being advertised online.

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It comes after the 17-year-old charged with the murder of three girls in the knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class appeared at Liverpool Crown Court and was named as Axel Rudakubana, from Banks in Lancashire.

The defendant is charged with the murder of Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, in Southport on Monday.

He is also charged with the attempted murder of yoga class instructor Leanne Lucas, businessman John Hayes and eight children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, as well as with possession of a kitchen knife with a curved blade.

He was remanded to youth detention accommodation and will next appear in court in October.

The attack, which happened at a dance class on Hart Street in Southport just before midday on Monday, has sparked incidents of violent disorder in some towns in England.

Thousands of people turned out to pay their respects to the victims at a vigil in Southport on Tuesday evening, but violence later erupted outside a mosque in the town with 53 police officers and three police dogs