Fears of more far-right violence continue to feature on the front of many front pages on Thursday. The i newspaper reports on tens of thousands of anti-racism protesters gathering on streets in England. It says those involved in rioting may face a football ban as the government looks to curb the unrest.
Metro leads with a headline which says “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s pawns stoking riots”. It suggest Russian trolls have “infiltrated” online chat groups being used to organise riots and unrest across England. Also catching the eye is an image of British actress and Star Wars icon Daisy Ridley who has spoken for the first time about being diagnosed with Graves’ disease – an autoimmune condition that mainly affects young and middle-aged women.
“United Britain stands firm against thugs” is the headline on the front of Thursday’s Daily Express underneath a wide shot photo of anti-racist demonstrators gathering in Walthamstow on a street outside an immigration centre. The dominant image on the front of the tabloid shows how the police presence was able to be maintained in the area.
A man boarding up a Samaritans charity shop in Southend commands the front of the Daily Telegraph as it reports on parts of the country which braced itself for further rioting, clashes and unrest following a week of violent scenes. “Britain shuts up shop” is the headline as the paper also says MPs have been told by the House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to work for home if they feel they might be targeted by demonstrators.
In the top corner of Thursday’s Guardian Team GB’s Matthew Hudson-Smith is pictured with his hands on his head after he missed out on gold, but won silver in the 400 metres. The paper’s lead story also centres on thousands of people taking to streets in parts of the capital, Blackpool, Brighton and Sheffield in what it describes as the biggest mobilisation of police officers and staff since the 2011 riots in London.
Thursday’s Daily Mail also splashes on the anti-racism protests, describing them as the “night anti-hate marchers faced down the thugs”.
The Times says thousands took “to the street to confront the far right”.
“Standing Together” is the headline on the front of the Daily Mirror which says thousands of anti-racism protesters turned out across English towns and cities to “thwart far-right thugs”. Above the image of police and demonstrators in Walthamstow is a sub-headline which says “power of the people”.
The Financial Times says many Parisians who fled the capital during the games now regret not being part of the sporting event. Its lead story is about a move by asset manager H2O to pay investors €250m in order to avoid a Financial Conduct Authority fine.
For the second day running the Daily Star features a story about pets on its front page. The tabloid says cats have been given a bad press by “boffins”.
