Nadine Shah has described scenes of violent riots on the streets of her hometown of Sunderland on Friday night (August 2) as “rancid”.
The Mayor of the North East, Kim McGuinness, has called rioters “appalling” and “far-right”, and some of those in the streets could be heard shouting Islamophobic slurs and chanting support for the founder of the English Defence League, Tommy Robinson (via The Guardian).
Shah, who was born in nearby Whitburn and grew up in the area, posted on her social media accounts on Saturday morning (August 3) to give her view on the events of the previous night.
“The scenes from Sunderland last night are rancid,” she wrote. “Love and solidarity to all my brothers and sisters feeling scared and targeted right now.”
The scenes from Sunderland last night are rancid. Love and solidarity to all my brothers and sisters feeling scared and targeted right now. Sunderland is made up of good decent people and we can’t let this hatred fester and grow. SUNLUN
pic.twitter.com/irx2jgK1L7
— Nadine Shah (@nadineshah) August 3, 2024
“Sunderland is made up of good decent people and we can’t let this hatred fester and grow. SUNLUN,” she added, alongside a photograph of herself standing outside Sunderland AFC’s Stadium of Light.
Three officers in the Northumbria Police were injured during the violence and required hospital treatment, while eight people have been arrested after a police station was attacked and a Citizens Advice building was set alight (via BBC).
Bricks and beer cans were thrown at riot police outside a mosque in the city and cars were overturned and set on fire.
Northumbria Police Chief Superintendent Helena Barron said her officers had been confronted with “serious and sustained” violence which she described as “utterly deplorable”.
The disorder is believed to follow on from the killing of three girls in Southport on Monday and the widespread misinformation about the killer that subsequently spread on social media. Tommy Robinson’s X account is one to have promoted the false claim that the Southport killer had been an asylum seeker that recently arrived in the UK by boat.
Shah released her fifth album ‘Filthy Underneath’ in February. In a four-star review, NME wrote: “Shah is writing about the darkest places a person can reach in a devastatingly human manner that demonstrates a rare level of repose and reflection.”
“She is laying her own true self on the line on ‘Filthy Underneath’, for her benefit, perhaps, but definitely for ours, so that we may turn the lens on ourselves and ask any questions that may need asking. As she concludes on ‘Food For Fuel’, “I am as I was before / Why am I as I was before?”
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