Anti-immigration protesters and anti-racism counter demonstrators have gathered across the UK after the Government won a court challenge which means asylum seekers can continue to be housed at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex.
Protests have taken place in the likes of Newcastle, Falkirk, Aberdeen, Gloucester, London and Essex so far this weekend with hundreds carrying St George’s and Union flags.
Five people have been arrested in west London relating to disorder after two anti-asylum groups marched to the Crowne Plaza hotel in West Drayton.
The Met Police said that group of masked men attempted to enter the hotel via the rear entrance, while a breakaway protest group moved towards the nearby Novotel on Cherry Lane and towards the Holiday Inn. Officers had already been in place at the scene, with two suffering minor injuries.
It comes as the Government faces mounting pressure to respond to a surge in small boats crossing the English Channel and end the use of hotels to temporarily house asylum seekers.
In Falkirk, anti-migrant demonstrations on Saturday have been met with hundreds of counter protesters from the campaign group Stand Up To Racism. Police separated both sides behind barriers as exchanges become tense between the two groups outside the Cladhan Hotel, where asylum seekers are being housed.
Around 120 anti-immigration protesters and counter-demonstrators gathered outside the Ibis in Barnwood, Gloucester on Saturday afternoon, according to the BBC. Gloucestershire Police said they would increase their policing presence around the Barnwood area and would not “hesitate in taking action against anyone who commits any unlawful act against either people or property.”
Protesters also clashed outside the New Bridge Hotel as the “Newcastle Welcomes Refugees” group stood up to “Send Them Back” protesters, according to the Northern Echo.
Two men were charged after three were arrested in Epping by Essex Police on Friday after gathering outside the Bell Hotel. One man, Ross Ellis, 49 of Orchard Croft, Harlow, was charged with failing to provide a specimen after a white car was driven on the wrong side of the road towards a police cordon.
Another man, Jimmy Hillard, 52 of Chequers Road, Loughton, was charged with assaulting an emergency worker after a police officer sustained an ankle injury. A third man, arrested on suspicion of violent disorder, remains in custody at this time.
Essex Police have put in place a Section 60AA order for 24 hours giving officers the power to order the removal of face coverings and a dispersal order, lasting until 4am Sunday, ahead of a planned protest in Epping on Saturday evening.
The Bell Hotel has been at the epicentre of controversy after an asylum seeker housed there was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl last month. He has denied the charges.
In a ruling last week, Mr Justice Eyre granted Epping Forest District Council (EFDC) an interim injunction after the authority claimed that Somani Hotels had breached planning rules by using the Bell as accommodation for asylum seekers.
Somani Hotels, which owns the Epping building, and the Home Office won their challenge against the High Court ruling on Friday, which would have stopped 138 asylum seekers from being housed there.
Epping Forest District Council is set to decide on Monday whether to take its battle over the Bell Hotel to the Supreme Court.
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has been warned by Lord Falconer, who served under former prime minister Sir Tony Blair, that Labour must take decisive action on the migrant crisis or risk losing voters to Reform UK.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We’ve obviously got to move forward in relation to closing the hotels and also stopping the crossings.
“The government always has the burden of doing what’s possible and the government is doing the right thing in relation to it, but there’s a lot more to do, and if we don’t, as a government, do it, then you’ll see those opinion polls raised yet further for Reform, because they don’t have the burden of having to be practical.”
