PROTESTS have broken out in Manchester today with a man arrested as Britain braces for a weekend of violence.
Dozens more protests have been planned for this weekend in the wake of the Southport stabbings.
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Campaign group Hope Not Hate has identified more than 30 protests planned across the UK over the next two days.
The knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on Monday which left three girls dead sparked violent disorder in some cities and 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 injured.
An eighth person has been arrested over the disorder in Southport on Tuesday evening.
Merseyside Police said a 32-year-old man, from Wigan, was arrested on Friday on suspicion of violent disorder and remains in custody for questioning.
On Wednesday evening, more than 100 protesters were arrested on Whitehall, where bottles and cans were thrown at police, and violence broke out in Hartlepool, County Durham, and in Manchester outside the Holiday Inn on Oldham Road.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced a new “national” response to the disorder linking police forces across the country.
And on Friday evening rioters battled police in the streets of Sunderland city centre following a planned protest linked to the Southport knife attack.
Hundreds of people gathered in Keel Square, many of them draped in England flags, and members of the crowd chanted in support of Tommy Robinson, while others shouted insults about Islam.
Some protesters were involved in violence, setting an overturned car on fire, while others targeted a mosque.
Videos posted on social media appeared to show a fire at a city centre police office, which was marked permanently closed on Google Maps and was no longer listed on a police station finder on Northumbria Police’s website.
Northumbria Police said in a post on X that its officers had been “subjected to serious violence”, and added that three officers were taken to hospital.
Eight people have so far been arrested for a range of offences, including violent disorder and burglary, the force added.
