Hotels for migrants face wave of protests

Riots and violence are feared as it emerged a record 111,000 people claimed asylum in the UK during Keir Starmer’s first year in office.

Anti immigration protesters demonstrate in Bournemouth, England. Picture: Getty Images.

Asylum hotels across Britain will be hit by a wave of anti-immigration protests this weekend.

Dozens of demonstrations were being planned yesterday as it emerged that a record 111,000 people had claimed asylum in the UK during Sir Keir Starmer’s first year in office.

At least 27 protests have been organised after a High Court judge ordered the removal of migrants from a hotel in Epping, Essex, on Tuesday. Many communities hope to replicate the results of the landmark ruling in their own areas by taking to the streets.

Anti-racism groups are scrambling to co-ordinate counter-protests, claiming towns and cities could suffer the most disruption since last summer’s riots.

The Times has found that at least eight demonstrations are set to take place today (Friday): in Cardiff, Chichester, Bournemouth, Cheshunt, Portsmouth, Leeds, Orpington and Altrincham.

Some 14 more – in areas including Hawley, Cannock, Nottingham, Bristol, Newcastle, Tamworth, Wakefield, Liverpool, Oldham, Exeter, Oxford, Perth and Aberdeen – are planned for tomorrow (Saturday). Another two are being organised in Manchester and Dudley on Sunday. Next week, hotels in Falkirk, Gloucester and Stockport have also been earmarked for actions.

The plans for protests came as:

– Figures revealed that claims for refugee status hit a record high in the year to June, nearly doubling the level seen in 2021.

– There was an 8 per cent rise in the number of asylum seekers in hotels, from 29,585 to 32,059, during Labour’s first year in power.

– Ten Labour-controlled councils confirmed they were reviewing the implications of the High Court judgment, with some considering their own legal options.

– Ministers planned to speed up efforts to move asylum seekers out of hotels and into disused tower blocks and former student accommodation which are closer to existing infrastructure.

The High Court ruling was delivered after a resident of the Bell Hotel in Epping, which has been housing migrants for years, was charged with sexually assaulting a schoolgirl.

The alleged assault triggered a series of protests, with up to 2,000 demonstrators descending on the building to demand its closure. Many gathered peacefully, but others reacted violently and 16 protesters were charged. Figures from the far-right group Homeland had helped to organise the demonstrations.

Epping Forest district council was granted a temporary injunction to stop the hotel housing migrants, on the basis that its owners had not applied for planning permission for a change in its use. The council also argued that its closure was needed to keep residents safe and remove “the catalyst for violent protests in public places”.

The ruling appears to have inspired people across the country to demonstrate in the hope similar action can be taken to close hotels near them.

Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, encouraged more people to march on asylum hotels and “express their genuine concerns in a peaceful, friendly way”.

Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, echoed his call to action saying residents should put pressure on their councils to “go to court to try and get the illegal immigrants out”.

Other Reform figures have been sharing partially inaccurate lists on social media naming hundreds of hotels across the UK. Some of the hotels being targeted are understood to house families rather than single men.

Ryan Coogan, previously the Reform candidate to be the mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, published a list of 262 hotels supposedly housing asylum seekers on his Facebook page this month, which has been shared 1,000 times. The government is only using 210 hotels.

As many as ten Labour-run councils have now joined other local authorities run by the Tories, Reform UK, the DUP and the Lib Dems in investigating the implications of the court ruling.

Organisers of the “Stand Up Leeds – No To Illegal Migrants” Facebook page said they had procured a “shipment of flags” for a protest today (Friday). Other protest leaders urged demonstrators to follow the rules of “no masks, no alcohol, no violence”. Ukip has also organised a “mass deportation march” in Liverpool.

Richard Donaldson, leader of The Great British National Protest group, has been sharing details of planned demonstrations on Facebook with the slogan “For our children, for our future”.

Lewis Nielsen of Stand Up to Racism said: “We’re in a dangerous moment. This weekend is set to see the biggest number of far-right demonstrations since the riots last summer. It’s been proven many of these are organised by known fascists and Hitler admirers.”

The Times