The knife attack in Southport has thrown Britain off balance. Many are grieving, some are reacting with hatred towards strangers. The king is attempting a step towards reconciliation. Can this succeed?
Shock and grief. King Charles III will have a vivid picture of how much they are weighing on Southport when he visits the town in northwest England. There are huge amounts of flowers, cuddly toys and balloons in the town centre. The colour pink often stands out. The gifts are in memory of the three girls who were stabbed to death in Southport just over three weeks ago. Eight other children were injured. The king meets some of them; he wants to hear personally about their experiences and suffering.
July 29 revealed deep divisions in British society. As head of state, Charles’ visit to Southport is therefore also about bringing the country’s sympathy to the town. After the bloody crime, there was little focus on the small victims and the consequences for families and communities in Southport, which has a population of around 90,000. Right-wing radicals hijacked the commemoration. For a good week, a mob raged every day in a different British town, angry about migrants who are allegedly taking up living space.
The hatred was fueled by false reports on social media. The perpetrator of the attack in Southport was a Muslim migrant, it was said. High-reach accounts spread the fake news. The fact that the police quickly clarified that they had arrested a suspect, now 18 years old, who was born in Great Britain to Rwandans, did not stop the rioters. On the contrary: Who knows whether the authorities are telling the truth, speculated right-wing populist MP and Brexit advocate Nigel Farage. He denies that he fueled the riots.
Hartlepool, London, Middlesbrough, Liverpool, Belfast, Bristol, Rotherham, Plymouth. Hotels housing asylum seekers were often targeted. Dozens of police officers were injured when confronting the rioters. The police in England do not have water cannons, and officers could only fend off the thugs with shields and batons. Cars went up in flames, shops were looted. A video caused horror in which a man can be seen stopping vehicles and asking the occupants whether they were British.
But at some point the peaceful majority had had enough. Thousands demonstrated in many cities against violence and for tolerance. Suddenly the majority of images showed residents cleaning up the damage from the night together. Images showed people drinking and eating together in a mosque, showing solidarity. It is gestures like these that the king means when he says he is “very encouraged by the many examples of community spirit”.
In Southport, the crowd greets the king, who is interrupting his traditional late summer holiday in Scotland, with loud cheers. Charles wants to give new impetus to his message that community spirit is the only way to achieve this. And to mourn together for Bebe (6), Elsie (7) and Alice (9). The monarch showed “sympathy and empathy” to the residents, said local MP Patrick Hurley afterwards. It was important to him to show that the heart of the country belongs to the local people.
The girls who were killed were at a Taylor Swift dance class; it was supposed to be a fun day out. That’s when the knife attacker attacked. The well-known US singer, to whom the event was dedicated, also met with survivors before one of her concerts at London’s Wembley Stadium. Charles also wants to meet with the relatives of those killed in the British capital tomorrow.
