Thugs throw bottles at police and launch flares onto Winston Churchill statue in second night of violence over death of three girls in Southport after ugly riots outside mosque left dozens of officers injured

Protesters wearing t-shirts with the faces of the three girls who were stabbed to death in the Southport knife rampage have clashed with police in London - 24 hours after ugly riots broke out at a mosque in Merseyside. 

Police have been forced to put on riot gear as chanting activists launched cans and let off flares outside Downing Street as tensions continue to grow following the stabbing frenzy at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on Monday.

Tributes have poured in for the three girls killed who police yesterday named as six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar. 

Eight other children suffered stab wounds in the bloodbath. Five are in a critical condition, alongside two women who were also critically injured as they bravely tried to save the children. 

A 17-year-old boy, originally from Cardiff but living in nearby Banks, remains in custody on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. False speculation online that he was an asylum seeker who had travelled to the UK on a boat appeared to fuel the riots outside a mosque in Southport last night.

Southport locals - including Elsie's mother - have called for the violence to stop after police vans were torched and bricks were hurled in violence that left 53 officers injured.

But right-wing activists, many carrying cans of Stella Artois, are tonight staging a demonstration on Whitehall, with some waving a Union Jack flag banner with the words: 'Enough is enough. Stop the boats.'

Loud chants of 'Oh Tommy Robinson' and 'we want our country back' were also heard as protesters surrounded The Cenotaph, despite police vans trying to protect the war memorial.

Huge scuffles between police and protesters have broken out, with officers detaining a balaclava-clad man and wrestling another off the road onto the pavement. 

Beer cans and glass bottles were launched at a line of police in riot gear who have assembled to block Whitehall in front of Downing Street. Other protesters have attempted to kick down a fence and were confronted by riot police.

Some activists were wearing red caps which said 'Make Britain Great Again' - a reference to Donald Trump's 'Make America Great Again' movement. 

Others wore t-shirts calling for English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson to be Home Secretary and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to be Prime Minister. 

Many protesters were draped in England flags as the Enough Is Enough protest got underway shortly after 7pm.

Shortly after, the protesters - many of whom were drinking alcohol - began marching towards Parliament Square. 

A few hundred protesters chanting 'Rule Britannia', 'save our kids' and 'stop the boats' attempted to leave the pavement opposite Downing Street in defiance of strict Metropolitan Police conditions on the protest.

The Metropolitan Police has said demonstrators taking part have to stay within a certain area and must leave at 8.30pm.

Protesters forced police to put riot gear on as they threw cans at police outside Downing Street. 

They also threw flares on to the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square and shouted abuse at nearby pro-Ukrainian demonstrators and police.

The event was promoted by actor Laurence Fox on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.

Superintendent Neil Holyoak, who is leading the policing of the protest, said: 'Following the tragic events in Southport, it is understandable the public have strong feelings about this shocking incident - but the subsequent violent, unlawful disorder that unfolded was completely unacceptable and driven by misinformation.

'Everyone has a right to protest and we continue to balance the right to lawful protest with everyone's right to go about their lives without fear or serious disruption - which is why we have put conditions in place and deployed more officers across London.

'We are speaking to the protest organisers as well as local community groups, businesses and religious leaders, in particular the Muslim community who have been impacted by this week's disorder in Southport.

'I urge everyone to exercise their right to protest calmly and within the law. Any disorder will be dealt with swiftly.'

It comes after Jenni Stancombe, the mother of little Elsie who died in the Southport stabbings, pleaded for the violence to end on social media.

She said: 'This is the only thing that I will write, but please stop the violence in Southport tonight.

'The police have been nothing but heroic these last 24 hours and they and we don't need this.'

Back in Southport, where the grieving community was clearing up the damage from the riots today, a poster was put up which said: 'Leave our town. We don't need this.'