The riots taking place across the country are not English or British, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.
Justin Welby condemned the “criminal violence” seen in parts of the UK, which has involved attacks on mosques, assaults on police officers and the looting of shops.
The Church of England leader told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This (violence) is not the United Kingdom. It’s not British. It’s not English. They defile the flag that they wrap themselves in.
“Violence and swearing in the face of police from a distance of two foot is never going to convince anyone.
“Protest is good and is right, and is fundamental to all our freedoms. But peaceful protest will have 1,000, 10,000 times the impact that this violence is having.
“This violence turns people away from your cause, whatever you’re protesting about, and it is just criminal violence.
“Peaceful protest, peaceful statements will convince, will change people’s mind, will – at the very least – cause them to listen.”
It comes after a seventh day of disorder, with far-Right and anti-racism protesters facing each other in Plymouth, separated by a line of police officers.
Hundreds of Muslims, including men in balaclavas and masks, formed a protective ring around a local mosque and shops in Birmingham, amid rumours of a planned march by the far-Right.
The Government has accused social media companies of fuelling the disorder, which began after false claims spread online that the suspect in the killing of three girls in Southport was an asylum seeker.
Welby spoke of “manipulation” through social media and “by people abroad”, which he said must be “strongly resisted”.
He did not mention names, but several other critics have condemned Tommy Robinson, the former English Defence League leader, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, for stoking tensions online while out of the country.
He has denied encouraging violence and orchestrating or coordinating the demonstrations.
‘Foreign state actors’ implicated
Downing Street said on Monday that action taken by social media companies to tackle misleading and inflammatory material “doesn’t go far enough”. It also warned that some foreign state actors were amplifying online disinformation.
Amid scenes of community clean-ups following some of the disorder, Mr Welby praised the “extraordinary cohesion and caring for neighbours that is going on all around the country in the wake of these riots”, adding that he believes the trouble will die down “very shortly”.
He said the Government had been “responding extremely well” through policing, but called for “medium and long-term reflection” in the aftermath.
He added that “some of our politicians will always take an opportunity to cause trouble, but that’s very, very few and far between”.