to be utterly sick of protests, marches, rallies, and riots

[NameChangeMay2026]

What happened today in Belfast was dreadful. Of course it was.

When Sarah Everard died, there were marches. But a day before she died, an Indian woman Sarah's age was knifed to death in the street in Leicestershire. It was an "honour" killing, I think.

Where was HER lantern on the doorstep of Downing Street? Where was HER march?

My point is, dreadful things happen every day and I am so sick and tired of news items sparking so much public rowdiness. It used to be that the media could report on current events without starting a riot. I know that we have always had riots, but they were the occasional one. And because they were not common, they helped effect change. They were a desperate measure reserved for when nothing else had helped.

Now, together with marches, rallies, and protests, society is constantly disrupted, and I am so, so sick of it. I live in a major city and I can't go anywhere without checking what march, rally, protest, or riot is happening, especially at the weekends. And they are so common that they don't help effect change anymore.

The riots are terrible. Thousands and thousands of pounds' worth of lost property in fires, injured bystanders, police calld away from other duties to attend them. And there are "professional" rabble-rousers who travel to marches, protests, and riots. It's not because they're passionate about a cause. They're just passionate about causing trouble.

I travel for work to major American cities and it's even worse over there. Another day, another riot/protest/march/rally.

They have become a feature of today's society, and I wish they would just stop.

Edit: I actually stay in more because of them. I don't go out of my hotel as much when staying in America, and I don't go to the city centre where I live as much. It's so bad when regular people are put off from walking around city centres because of all these annoying dickheads.

I think it is worse in America, and I'm tired of feeling scared to go out when there, in case I run into an uncontrolled crowd - where the police have guns, and the protestors might, depending on the state.

The burning buildings in Belfast are a disgrace. It's not the owners' fault that this happened.

Do you feel the same way about the Palestine protests that happen every weekend OP?

Especially antisemitism worsened by the constant pro pal hate marches.

You're the one who is gas lighting. The attacker is a heinous evil human being and the thugs on the streets of Belfast last night are no better. They literally burned homes with young children inside. They are all mindless savages. Because one man attacked someone does not mean mob violence against innocents is acceptable. If you don't understand this, you need to have a look at yourself in the mirror. It isn't gas lighting to say that both parties are evil and wrong.

I agree in large part with what you are saying. There is significant division in modern society and it is incredibly draining and the wrong people are being targeted by protests.

I really don’t think politicians across Europe have good answers to it at present.

I’m very impressed by Kemi Badenoch as a personality. I would love someone like her with more centrist or left leaning policies where I am. I love her message of things that bring people together rather than things that divide.

I think left wing ideology has gotten it very wrong and the pendulum has swung way too far in terms of policy stemming from left ideologies across Europe and that is massively impacting on society at the moment but the far right terrifies me.

You didn’t answer the question.

They care so much about this country but will invoke fear into our residents, emotionally scar our children for life, destroy our peoples property, attempt to kill our residents and make our first responders risk their lives and be emotionally traumatised.

Most of the people in Southampton who’s homes were targeted were white British but they use the excuse that they’re ’protecting our country’.

If they gave a shit about this country, they would not be acting so violently because it affects our people.

These are dangerous men who get sexual pleasure from scaring the life out of people.
How anyone can support them is beyond me.

There are brutal murders committed every day by people who aren't asylum seekers. In Northern Ireland, Stephen McCullagh was sentenced to life last week for murdering his pregnant partner Natalie McNally. A violent white man who abused and murdered his partner - imagine living in the same community as him? You wouldn't feel safe, would you? But how odd - where are the riots about Natalie?

The rioting is because the right-wing media and the likes of Farage and Tommy Robinson and all those other ghastly far-right 'influencers' have whipped people up into a racist fury. Of course there are bad apples in every basket - that's just statistics. But being a bad apple has nothing to do with the colour of your skin.

Apparently there was a two month old baby in one of the houses set alight last night. That’s what defenders of appalling violence are allying themselves with.

If it wasn't a white baby, they won't care.

The policing for one weekend in London was 10 million quid with both sides of the politicla spectrum having a set to. My friends DS who is a police officer travelled down from the North to assist as they needed the numbers.

@ijustwanttoworkout could see this coming years ago, many are not nuanced enough to see the difference between migrants. By allowing the situation to get out of control with immigration it’s caused this. I’m mixed race and the 1970’s were dire for racism, it feels very much like we are going backwards to that time.My neighbour is the DS of Jamaicans who came in the 1950’s my Dad was from Hong Kong same decade. When I moved to my area almost 28 years ago there was us and then you would maybe see one other person out and about who was not white, now in my town it’s maybe around 10%. We have a big migrant hotel, it’s an extra 500. It’s a radical change in a short time in a small town. There is a protest outside that hotel every week.

It’s evil. Pure, deep rooted evil.

They attacked the house of Ukrainian refugees. The exact people they claim not to have an issue with. People who have fled war, who are now being targeted.

They set rows of houses alight, with babies in. That’ll help the housing crisis, not!

Total and utter nonsense.

Open borders, out of control immigration. And gaslighting the public that there’s nothing to see here.

Does t wash anymore.

YABU

These are incredibly troubled times. There is a lot of unrest. People can’t continue to just roll over and take it.

something needs to change.

Not saying riots are right, of course they aren’t. But protests and marches increasing are a sign of how bad things are and people are exercising their right to protest. There’s little else they can do.

You’re defending people setting houses on fire while babies sleep.

That’s attempted murder. How brainwashed and evil can you be to defend that? If a migrant set a house on fire you’d be up in arms. But when it’s a white man doing it to a migrant house, it’s fine?!

The reason for riots, marches etc when there are attacks by migrants is that their presence here is a result of political decisions. Since the 1960s the British public has overwhelmingly voted against more and more immigration. They have always been ignored by politicians to the point where we now have an immigrant population in the millions. White British kids are now minorities all around the country, not just in London, and we have daily migrant-perpetrated atrocities from stabbings, to rapes, to beheadings. This is not NORMAL. Noone wants to live like this. Not even you.

All of this is the result of deliberate policy decisions made by our politicians over decades. Endlessly letting in people who should not be here. And THAT is why people march and are angry. They still believe that we live in a democracy and that politicians should enact the will of the people. They still, fruitlessly, believe they will be listened to.

Frankly you should hope that they keep marching and protesting because the day they don't is the day they turn to other methods.

It’s strange how the woke supporters of open borders and defenders of illegal migration will use the unrest to justify the problem.

They are using the unrest as a reason to double down on why we need more migration. Not addressing the people’s concerns. Whether people protest or behave badly in response to these attacked does not take away from the fact that we have a problem here. But they are using the protests to deflect attention away from the problem.

It wasn't all migrant houses - same as in Southampton last week, where the 'protestors' smashed up random cars. They don't care who they're hurting. They're just violent thugs who get off on it.

Agree but summer is approaching so it will
only get worse. As long as they are not near me and stick to wrecking their own areas I don’t care. I do feel sorry for regular people in places like Belfast and Glasgow though. (And Southampton and anywhere with violent thugs marauding.)

What could they turn to that would be worse than burning people alive?

I’m specifically talking about the two examples I’ve posted - of the Ukrainian refugees and the seemingly Indian/asian immigrants who had their house set on fire.

But yes it’s all over violence and it’s disgraceful.

I agree with all of this.

I'm in Dublin and am sick to the back teeth of illegal immigrant men. There are so many of them here, and it doesn't feel safe at all. My own mother was targeted for robbery a couple of weeks ago. A girl going home from work was grabbed by a man and only rescued because a dog walker (that I know) rescued her. A ten year old girl was raped. Another 8 year old was sexually assaulted. I saw a man lying on the ground wanking in broad daylight...not once but twice in two different areas. I've been abused by a man in the park who also followed another woman home. These are just off the top of my head.

I see the birth rate excuse brought out. As most of the people coming in are men, how does that work?

I have no problem with people who come here to work, raise families etc. But to come over and behave the way they are? No!
The Belfast riots are terrible to see, but the frustration is coming to a boiling point. We have no say in what's being done to our country and it's just going to get worse.

When British citizens are fearful because of the emboldened racism, then there is a lot wrong.

Agreed we should be allowed to protest.

Rioting is not protesting. People rioting over Henry Nowak's murder and preaching "send them back" when the murdered is a british citizen but is brown is demonstrating blatant racism, and the reason why attitudes need to change.

Why aren't we protesting about the systematic underfunding of public services? Why aren't we protesting against the huge inequality which leaves citizens fighting over scraps? Because no-one is telling us to in the media...

The Belfast attempted murder was by a sudanese person who was granted indefinite right to remain by Suella Braverman. He isn't an "illegal". He obviously is incredibly mentally unwell, and yes there is an argument that as we obviously can't support our citizens with mental health issues, we shouldn't be accepting anyone else into the country. However, the better thing to do is to look WHY peoples mental health is being allowed to suffer and people aren't able to get help even when they're begging for it....

Of course in a civilised society, we should all live without fear and happily co-exist with all sorts of people, but we have seen systematic erosion of society over several decades.

We're constantly being told by "protesters" we're a Christian country, yet "love thy neighbour" has been forgotten and the division being sewn directly correlates with the horrendous things we are seeing daily in our news feeds.

You’ve spent the entire thread saying it’s justified.

Still lying. Either that or you are a fantasist who imagines things.