Mark White Southport analysis: 'Calling protests right-wing mischaracterises what we're seeing'
"We might be looking at a summer of disorder," says Mark White
Getty, GB News
A series of protests broke out this week across the country following a knife attack in Southport resulting in the murder of three girls.
Home Affairs and Security Editor Mark White delivered his analysis of protests erupting Southport, Hartlepool, London, Aldershot and Newton Heath in Manchester.
Speaking on the events, White said: "It's clear that there is great concern amongst the government and amongst the police about the potential for this to spark further protests across the country. That we might be looking at a summer of disorder.
"The ingredients are all there. There's been disaffection for quite a period of time and the sort of branding of these protests as just right-wing protests, I think, completely mischaracterises what we're seeing here."
Watch: Mark White gives his analysis of the Southport protests
White continued: "We are seeing the culmination of a period - we're talking a build-up of years - of resentment that is now fast becoming anger.
"They've seen incident after incident that has been reported that has been linked in many cases back to asylum seekers or immigrants or people say is linked to a breakdown of multiculturalism.
"Now palatable as these issues might be for some people to explore they are real as far as many communities are concerned.
"Just look at the issues around hotels for instance. There's barely a community in the country that hasn't seen a hotel in their local area taken over for use by asylum seekers and no one has any say in that being done.
"Now Labour have said they are going to end the use of asylum seeker hotels."
White explained that some people might think these issues are nothing to do with asylum seekers but "it is in the minds of these people going to the streets under the slogan that enough is enough."
He continued: "All of these issues that have been building up over a period of time regardless of the rights and wrongs of the claims around Southport might be. That has sparked a real wave of unrest that's been linked and fed by so much of these other issues."
Ellie Costello asked: "But there's fake news and misinformation at the heart of this?"
Mark agreed: "Of course. I absolutely will say with regards to Southport the claims that were out there claiming that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had come over on a boat the previous year and had been on an MI6 watchlist... is completely false and only fed the resentment and the anger.
Protestors stand off with police in Southport Getty"But it would be very naive to think that it's only been driven by this fake account that's giving out this false information.
"This is there. It's real. It has been boiling or simmering away for quite a period of time on these issues and it doesn't take much now for that real visceral anger to start manifesting itself in this kind of unrest."
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Finally, White pointed out: "In London and up in Hartlepool there are elements there who are bent on trouble. I see them at every protest. Left or right or whatever the particular issue of the day is.
"There are always elements in there that would like the protest to become a bit more lively, to become violent and then people get caught up in that.
"But that does not reflect the majority of people that attend these protests."
It comes as Keir Starmer is set to meet with senior police leaders on Thursday to offer them "full backing" of the government as protests continue.
Number 10 said the meeting would "offer them the government’s full backing following multiple high-profile incidents of extreme violence and public disorder on our streets."
"[The prime minister] will say that the shocking events in Southport this week serve as a reminder of the bravery of our emergency service workers and the vitally important work they do to keep the public safe," it said.
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