Sky Employees Issued Memo to Leave Work Early as U.K. Braces for More Far-Right Riots

Sky employees based at the company’s west London campus have been told to either stay at home or leave work early as far-right riots continue to take place across the U.K. with hundreds arrested for setting fire to buildings, looting stores, and harassing local residents.

The unrest began after the stabbing of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, England on July 29. False claims circulated on social media that the suspect, now known to be 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, was an asylum seeker. Rudakubana, whose parents emigrated from Rwanda, was a British national born in Wales.

On Wednesday, police were told to brace for over 100 anti-migration protests and 30 counter-demonstrations planned throughout the country as employees in major cities have been told to stay home from work or close up early. Sky, a company with a huge campus based in Osterley, west London, issued the memo after a reported protest was planned for nearby Brentford.

Members of Parliament have also been warned by the speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, to stay at home where possible if they fear they could be targeted by the groups.

Over 4,000 riot police have been deployed, with 2,000 on standby, as politicians vow every perpetrator will “face the full force of the law.” Many have been charged so far, and three have been jailed.

Minorities, in particular, are being targeted in the violence. This week, a Muslim couple were reported to have been chased by a white man carrying a chainsaw – later clarified to be a hedge trimmer – at a gas station near Manchester. Small businesses have had their windows smashed and shopfronts vandalized.

Tech mogul Elon Musk has been accused of fanning the flames of the frenzied protests by allowing disinformation to spread so rapidly on his platform, X, formerly Twitter. Far-left politicians in the U.K. have began to call for X to be banned after Musk replied to a post of a riot in Liverpool that “civil war is inevitable”.

Musk drew further criticism when U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote on social media that “we will not tolerate attacks on mosques or on Muslim communities”, among other statements. A Southport mosque was ambushed as part of the mob’s Islamophobic attacks. Musk responded to Starmer’s post: “Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on *all* communities?” Local residents have banded together to repair the damage done to the place of worship. Other mosques have shut, fearing destruction.

The PM has blamed social media for the escalation in the aftermath of the stabbings. “Let me also say to large social media companies and those who run them: violent disorder was clearly whipped up online. That is also a crime. It is happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere.”

On Tuesday, Musk reposted a video appearing to show police officers arresting a man for making abusive and hateful comments on Meta site Facebook. “Arrested for making comments on Facebook!” Musk said on X. “Is this Britain or the Soviet Union? Is this accurate @Community Notes.”

It is also worth noting that many members of the local community where the Southport stabbings took place are condemning the violence, and family members of the young children who were injured have asked for the unrest to cease.

Critiques of Musk have tried to stress the severity of the billionaire agitating a foreign Government and encouraging extremist ideologies and behavior. Armando Iannucci, Emmy-winning creator of Veep and British satirical sitcom The Thick of It, said to Musk on X: “You have no idea what our wonderful country is really like and are, like the planet Mars, both toxic and empty.”

Glasgow-born Iannucci has since picked up abusive X posts from people claiming his name does not suggest he is a Brit. “At the moment, all Twitter/X threads lead to bollocks,” the writer said.