UK remains on 'high' riot alert as jail terms ordered for social media posts

Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned Friday that UK authorities must "stay on high alert" for more far-right riots, as courts issued the first jail sentences for online incitement during the recent disorder.

While England has had consecutive nights of relative quiet, disturbances have continued unabated in Northern Ireland where police have blamed pro-UK loyalist paramilitaries for fuelling nightly violence in Belfast.

More than 1,000 anti-racism protesters massed in the Northern Irish capital on Friday amid a large police presence.

Several dozen anti-immigration demonstrators also showed up.

Starmer told reporters during a visit to the London police headquarters that "swift justice" handed out by courts was helping deter more disorder in English towns.

"But we have to stay on high alert going into this weekend because we absolutely have to make sure that our communities are safe and secure," Starmer added.

- 'Reminder' -

A judge in Leeds, northern England, jailed a 28-year-old man for 20 months after he admitted publishing Facebook posts that met the criminal threshold for stirring racial hatred.

In the first case of its kind linked to the disturbances, a judge sentenced Jordan Parlour for posts last week encouraging people to attack a hotel in the city housing asylum seekers and refugees.

The hotel manager had to put the building into lockdown Saturday due to  disorder in the city, and at least one window was broken after stones were thrown at it.

In Northampton, central England, a judge jailed 26-year-old Tyler Kay for 38 months after he called on social media for hotels housing asylum seekers to be set alight.

Speaking before the sentences -- but after both had been convicted -- Starmer said they were "a reminder to everyone that whether you're directly involved or whether you're remotely involved, you're culpable".

Social media executives and users should be "mindful of the first priority, which is to ensure that our communities are safe and secure".

"We're going to have to look more broadly at social media after this disorder but the focus at the moment has to be on dealing with the disorder," Starmer said.

- Nearly 600 arrests -

Police in England said nearly 600 arrests have been carried out linked to the unrest since July 30 and around 150 charges had been filed.

The disturbances, sparked by a July 29 knife attack in which three children were killed, have seen mosques and migrant-related facilities attacked alongside police and other targets.

Officials say false information spread on social media about the suspected perpetrator fuelled the disorder.

Courts across England have started sentencing  participants in the disorder, with about a dozen people jailed on Thursday.

In Northern Ireland, a number of Belfast businesses and libraries closed early on Friday after more disorder overnight and the latest  protests.

Police there said 23 people have been arrested so far in Belfast following the disturbances, and 15 charged.

Officers have been granted additional powers to stop and search suspected troublemakers and ask them to remove face coverings, while additional manpower is being sent from the UK mainland, according to reports.

Britain's monarch, King Charles III, praised the police and emergency services "for all they are doing to restore peace in those areas that have been affected by violent disorder".

He hoped that the "shared values of mutual respect and understanding will continue to strengthen and unite the nation", a palace spokesman added in a statement, his first reaction to the unrest

French President Emmanuel Macron offered his support to Starmer in a phone call with the prime minister Friday, said a statement from the French presidency.

Offering condolences to the families of the victims of the July 29 stabbing, Macron "firmly condemned the violence and disorder" in Britain in his conversation with Starmer, said the statement.

King Charles III ends silence on riots

King Charles III on Friday made his first comments about riots that have shaken British cities to praise the work of police in countering the violence.

While the monarch and Queen Camilla conveyed their condolences to the families of three girls killed in a mass stabbing on July 29, Buckingham Palace had not commented on the near-daily riots which followed.

The king praised British police and emergency services "for all they are doing to restore peace in those areas that have been affected by violent disorder", according to a Buckingham Palace spokesperson.

He hoped the "shared values of mutual respect and understanding will continue to strengthen and unite the nation", the spokesperson added.

Many observers had been watching to see if the king, who is on his annual summer holiday in Scotland, would end his noticeable silence on the disturbances.

Hundreds of people have been arrested in the near-nightly unrest that hit cities across England and in Northern Ireland and which authorities have blamed on far-right agitators.

Officials say the rioters took advantage of the killings of the girls in the northwestern English coastal town of Southport to launch racist and Islamophobic protests. The suspect accused of the killings was born in Britain.

Traditionally, the monarch does not comment on anything that could cause political controversy.

But in calls with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and police chiefs, the king said he had been "greatly encouraged" by the reaction "that countered the aggression and criminality from a few with the compassion and resilience of the many".

While extra police have been put on standby, there have been many counter-demonstrations in cities where far-right protests had been planned.

- 'Perilous moment' -

His call for unity followed a silence that had concerned some royal watchers.

"I am surprised that the king as head of state hasn't come out more forcefully, given that it's a perilous moment for the United Kingdom," historian and royal commentator Ed Owens said before the statement's release.

According to constitutional law expert Craig Prescott, however, "the monarchy does not comment on current political events". The late Queen Elizabeth II remained similarly quiet during the last wave of riots which shook England in 2011.

"Once the riots have subsided, you might expect members of the royal family to visit places affected and perhaps to see them more in multicultural settings," Prescott said in a post on the X social media platform.

"If the king speaks out about this, then what about the next big issue, and the one after that."

Owens argued that Charles, who has gradually resumed public duties after a cancer diagnosis earlier this year, may not have publicly reacted for two main reasons.

He may have been "advised by his government that it would be unwise at this stage" to intervene directly.

And the monarch might himself have deemed the issue too "combustible". The question of "illegal migration" is politically divisive and sensitive in Britain, said Owens.

But as heir to the throne, Charles made known his opposition to the previous government's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.

And the king has been more vocal about topics such as climate change over the years. Since becoming the monarch he is seen as having presented himself as more accessible than his predecessors, including by opening up about his health.

But for Graham Smith, head of Republic, a pressure group which campaigns for an elected UK head of state to replace the monarch, the lack of a response to the riots showed that the monarchy is an institution "for someone who isn't able to speak really".

According to media reports, quoting palace sources, the king has asked for a daily update on the crisis.

But Smith said: "There's no value in a billionaire sitting in his holiday home being updated about what's happening. I mean, it's easy to be updated -- switch the TV on."