Keir Starmer is facing the most serious domestic crisis of his premiership as violent protests targeting hotels housing asylum seekers erupted across eight UK cities overnight, stretching police resources to breaking point and leaving local communities in fear. The unrest, which began in small towns in the North and Midlands before spreading rapidly, saw running battles between demonstrators and riot police, fires set near accommodation sites, and reports of missiles thrown at officers. By dawn on January 24, 2026, the disorder had reached urban centres including Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Liverpool, Sheffield, Hull, Rotherham and Stoke-on-Trent, marking the widest geographical spread of anti-immigration violence since the summer riots of 2024.

The trigger appears to have been the circulation of unverified social-media claims that a new wave of asylum seekers was being moved into previously quiet hotels in working-class neighbourhoods. In several locations protesters gathered outside the buildings chanting “get them out” and “Britain is full”, before the situation escalated. In Leeds, officers were pelted with bricks and bottles after attempting to form a cordon around a Holiday Inn Express; in Birmingham, a group of around 150 demonstrators set fire to bins and overturned wheelie bins to block roads. Greater Manchester Police declared a section 60 order in parts of the city centre, giving officers enhanced stop-and-search powers, while West Midlands Police reported 14 arrests for public order offences and assault on emergency workers.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned the violence in the strongest terms, calling it “utterly unacceptable thuggery” and confirming that specialist public-order units had been mobilised from neighbouring forces. “We will not tolerate attacks on police, attempts to intimidate vulnerable people, or efforts to inflame community tensions,” she said in a televised statement at 4 a.m. The Prime Minister, speaking from Downing Street shortly after 7 a.m., described the scenes as “deeply disturbing” and vowed that those responsible would face the full force of the law. Yet behind the tough rhetoric, senior Labour figures privately acknowledge that the speed and scale of the unrest has caught the government off guard and exposed deep fractures in its immigration messaging.

The protests come at a moment of acute political vulnerability for Starmer. After a difficult first six months marked by tax rises, spending restraint and falling poll numbers, the Prime Minister had hoped the new year would bring a reset. Instead, the government is once again on the defensive over small-boat crossings — which remain at near-record levels — and the slow pace of clearing the asylum backlog. The decision to house thousands of single adult males in former hotels, originally taken under the previous Conservative administration but continued under Labour because of a lack of alternatives, has become a lightning rod for anger in towns already struggling with deprivation and overstretched services.

Community leaders in affected areas described a climate of fear. In Rotherham, where memories of the grooming scandal still loom large, local councillors said residents felt “abandoned” after police withdrew from outside one hotel following sustained missile attacks. In Hull, shopkeepers boarded up windows as rumours spread that demonstrators planned to target multiple sites. Faith groups and charities working with asylum seekers reported receiving panicked calls from residents inside the hotels, many of whom are fleeing war or persecution and now fear being targeted simply for existing.

Critics on the right have wasted no time accusing Starmer of weakness. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called the unrest “entirely predictable” and blamed the government’s “failure to get a grip on the borders”. Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp said Labour had “lost control of the streets” and demanded an emergency Cobra meeting. Even within the Labour movement, some MPs from northern and Midlands seats privately express frustration that tougher language and faster removals of failed asylum claimants have not been forthcoming.

Starmer’s allies insist the response has been proportionate and firm. They point to the rapid deployment of additional officers, the use of facial-recognition technology to identify repeat offenders, and the fact that no hotel has been successfully breached. Yet the optics are grim: images of burning barricades, police in riot gear retreating under volleys of missiles, and terrified families peering from hotel windows are dominating rolling news and social-media feeds. For a Prime Minister who came to power promising stability and seriousness, the pictures are a gift to his opponents.

The unrest also raises difficult questions about integration and community cohesion. Many of the protesters insist they are not racist but simply “concerned about resources” — housing, GPs, schools — being allocated to new arrivals while long-term residents wait. Counter-protesters and anti-racism groups argue the demonstrations have been hijacked by far-right agitators seeking to inflame tensions. Independent observers note that while the initial gatherings appeared organic, organised elements with megaphones and flags quickly took control in several locations.

As daylight broke, police remained on high alert. Forces across the country cancelled rest days and recalled officers on annual leave. The government has quietly activated mutual-aid agreements to move specialist units into the worst-affected areas. Ministers are expected to hold emergency talks later today on whether to accelerate dispersal of asylum seekers from hotels into smaller, less visible accommodation — a move long demanded by local councils but complicated by a chronic shortage of suitable properties.

For Keir Starmer, the coming days will test not just operational control but political nerve. If the protests continue to spread or escalate, the narrative of a government “losing the streets” will harden. If they are contained quickly and firmly, he may yet emerge strengthened. Either way, the images of last night’s violence have already changed the conversation — from policy detail to visceral fear — and reminded everyone how fragile the social peace remains when immigration becomes the flashpoint.