Victoria Coates warns 'unfettered migration' led to riots in the United Kingdom

Initial reports indicated that the suspect in the Taylor Swift stabbing incident was a migrant, prompting outrage from the far-right, but police have since said the 17-year-old was born in Wales.

By Misty Severi

Published: August 5, 2024 6:23pm

Heritage Foundation Vice President of Foreign Policy Victoria Coates warned on Monday that "unfettered migration" into the United Kingdom has resulted in the current anti-immigrant riots breaking out in the country now.

The riots began last week after children were stabbed at a Taylor Swift event in England, which resulted in the deaths of three children and critically injured several others. Initial reports indicated that the suspect was a migrant, prompting outrage from the far-right, but police have since said the 17-year-old was born in Wales.

Coates said that the backlash from the right-wing riots have also resulted in the situation spiraling to include mobs of Muslim immigrants.

"We've had this basically unfettered migration into the United Kingdom over the last 10-15 years. So you have very large immigrant populations who have not assimilated into British society at all," Coates said on the "John Solomon Reports" podcast. "And, you know, [the stabbing] led to real outpouring of grief and yes, some anti-immigrant sentiment."

"But the response has been ... their new prime minister, Keir Starmer, spoke up strongly against the outbreak of right wing violence," she continued. "[He] did not speak out for the little girls. And now we have vigilante gangs of mostly Muslim immigrants, you know, hunting through the streets of the United Kingdom, for people that maybe, God forbid, would be Jewish or don't agree with them. And it's really spiraling."

British police officers have arrested at least 378 people since the riots began last week, after the rioters set fire to a library, looted stores, and broke into hotels that housed some aslyum seekers, according to The Guardian. Three officers were injured in the riots on Monday.

Swift, King Charles III, and Starmer have all sent their condolences to the families of the victims, and the three children who were killed.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.