Protestor describes Portsmouth demonstration sparked by Southport children deaths at Taylor Swift dance class

Demonstrators gathered at Guildhall Square this morning from 10am. Many of them were draped in St Georges Crosses and Union Jacks, carrying various banners. Some of them were related to the killings, with phrases such as “Save Our Children”, while others held an anti-immigration stance - donning slogans such as “Stop The Boats” and “Stop Mass Immigration”.

Counter demonstrations formed in the city centre while campaigners, including former Portsmouth North political candidate Melvyn Todd, of Reform UK, giving speeches. Some members held banners associating themselves with the Youth Alliance, an anti-immigration group which is described as right-wing.

Joe Ward, who has attended anti-government protests in the past, said there were between 100 to 150 people at the gathering. The musician The News: “I was going round and chatting to people to work out exactly what it was about. Like a lot of people, we were quite hesitant to put our name to anything that can be seen as far-right.

“The general sentiment from most people was a feeling of helplessness. The incident has happened, and whatever you think or how you feel, a lot of people are thinking ‘what can we do?’. It’s at a point now where people are looking to do something to try and make a change, to be seen and to be heard. Another big thing was the whole issue of division, and all the solutions coming from the higher ups are that of division.

“Most people are saying that dealing with child abuse should be a major issue in our society, and it’s something which we should all take more seriously.” A Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary spokesman previously said “No incidents have been raised from the protest in Portsmouth this morning”. Scenes of violence and disorder have taken place across the country itself, starting in Southport where the incident happened.

Bebe King, aged six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, aged seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, aged nine, died following stabbings at a Taylor Swift themed dance class in Merseyside on Monday (July 29). Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, 17, of Cardiff, has been charged with several counts of murder, attempted murder and carrying a bladed weapon.

A vigil held in the town was marred by violence, with police officers being pelted with bricks and an emergency service van being set on fire near a Mosque. Unrest was sparked by misinformation spread online just hours after the attack. Claims on X, formerly known as Twitter, described a fictional asylum seeker named Ali-Al-Shakati carried out the attack a year after arriving on a migrant boat.

Mr Ward said a lot of the speeches conveyed messages from those who distrusted the mainstream media and the government. “I personally didn’t speak to anyone who was overly offensive about immigration or stopping boats,” he added. “Any time you get a group like this, there is going to be a bit of that. It seemed like a gathering of regular people who wanted to do something.

“ One of the speeches mentioned that it seemed like saving our children and saving our kids is a dirty thing to say now. That sentiment is reflected by a lot of people around the country who feel like you can’t really talk about these issues without being labelled as a right-wing conspiracist. Others said it’s not a right-wing issue, but an issue about child abuse and saving the children.”

The Whitley resident said crowds started to disperse around 12pm, with a group of people being led away by police officers at one point. One eye-witness previously told The News that heated verbal exchanges were made between protestors and counter-demonstrators. Mr Ward said there were some things shouted but nothing out of the ordinary.

He added that he was concerned that the demonstration would mirror violent scenes nationally. “There was that worry in my mind, but from when I got down there, the organisers were adamant in stressing that it was a peaceful protest,” he added. “I chatted to a few PSCOs, and they seemed quite happy with what was going on. I didn’t feel in any danger at all.” Disorder has taken place in several major cities today, with emergency service personnel being attacked in Leeds, Hull, Sunderland and elsewhere. Mr Ward said the government and police need to crack down and be tough on crimes against children, as well as provide clarity and unity for people.

“If you interviewed 100 people, most would be in the middle of this somewhere,” he added. “All we get shown are the extreme left and extreme right. When people are confused and divided, you are always going to face issues of violence. The government and police need to find a way of unifying people and find some common ground, where is it between the left and right and how can we bring everyone together, rather than pushing everyone apart and saying it’s a fringe minority of people that care about these issues. People from all different walks of life care about these issues.”