Migrant protests descend into anarchy as rival groups clash on weekend of fury across Britain over asylum seeker hotels

Migrant protests have descended into anarchy as a wave of demonstrations took place around the UK during a weekend of fury over asylum seeker hotels.

Today more than 30 protests were held in towns including Bristol, Exeter, Tamworth, Cannock, Nuneaton, Liverpool, Wakefield, Newcastle, Horley, Canary Wharf, Aberdeen and Perth in Scotland, and Mold in Wales.

Counter-protests, many set up by anti-fascist group Stand Up To Racism, have also turned out at many of the locations outside hotels housing asylum seekers.

Several demonstrators have been seen scuffling with police and shouting at the opposing side as chaos unfolds across the country.

There are fears that some of the locations could see an outbreak in disorder similar to last summer after the Southport attack, which triggered riots across the country in response to fake information being published online that the attacker was a migrant. 

Many are hoping protests will ultimately result in a ruling for The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, which must close to asylum seekers in weeks unless an appeal is granted.

Demonstrations first began in Epping after it was revealed that one resident, an asylum seeker from Ethiopia, had been accused of sexually assaulting a local schoolgirl. 

It was alleged that he tried to kiss the 14-year-old. He denies the allegations.

 After a ruling which stated the hotel must close to asylum seekers following weeks of protests, the Home Secretary and the hotel itself announced plans to seek to appeal against the injunction.

On Saturday morning protesters began to gather outside a hotel in Perth and at other locations across the country, and were greeted with counter-protesters.

Many held signs calling for the hotel to be emptied and for tougher government action on immigration.

A group called Abolish Asylum System held a protest outside the Radisson Blu on Saturday morning.

It was met with a counter-protest organised by Perth Against Racism, with the sides chanting and shouting at each other.

The site, previously known as the Station Hotel, is near Perth’s railway station and the two sides stood across from each other in the car park with a police presence.

The anti-immigration protesters held up signs with slogans such as ‘Perth is full – empty the hotels’ and ‘get them out’.

Their opponents held a banner saying ‘No to racism, refugees welcome’. The groups dispersed in the early afternoon.

Stand Up to Racism Scotland said it had achieved ‘victory’ in Perth, with more than 200 gathering to oppose the Abolish Asylum System demonstration.

Perth Against Racism released a statement saying: ‘The actions today promoted by far-right groups from within and without Scotland are branded as concern about local communities.

‘Everyone has a right to be concerned about housing, about healthcare, about schools, about safety in our communities, but why do migrants come into it?

‘They do not control the policies and systems that fail our communities. It’s the same old bigotry rebranded as concern about the community.’

Before the protest, political leaders on Perth and Kinross Council issued a joint statement reaffirming their commitment as a ‘council of sanctuary’.

It said: ‘We defend the right to peaceful protest, but protests targeted at those who in many cases have lost their homes and family members to war does not reflect the compassion, solidarity and fairness our communities are known for.

‘That is why we are asking all residents to look beyond the misleading headlines and misinformation and treat those seeking refuge in our area the same way they would hope to be treated.’

Protests at a hotel in Aberdeen are due to take place later on Saturday.

In Bristol, just a couple of dozen anti-migrant protesters were originally pictured separated by a line of officers from a far larger pro-refugee group. More later arrived and mounted police officers were deployed.

But around 200 anti-immigration protesters draped in St George’s and Union flags clashed with roughly 50 Stand Up to Racism protesters on Bonehurst Road in Horley, West Sussex.

The anti-racism protesters chanted ‘say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here’ and held signs calling for solidarity and called to ‘stop deportations’.

They were met with a torrent of abuse from the anti-migration group, one of whom yelled through a megaphone ‘you’re all scum and you should be ashamed’ and that ‘this wasn’t about racism’. 

The two groups almost came together in the early afternoon, with lines of police separating the two groups.

Cops struggled to contain the anti-immigration protesters who chanted ‘paedo’ as anti-racism protesters were shepherded away. 

The Stand Up to Racism protesters were guided into a smaller area as they continued to chant ‘no hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here’ which were met with ‘no they’re f****** not’ from the other side of the street.

From just after 12pm until around 1.30pm the atmosphere remained tense as officers kept the two groups apart.

One man wearing a West Ham United football shirt, was held by the police as he yelled ‘you’re not welcome here, you’re not welcome here, you’re not welcome here’ going along the line of anti-racism protesters.

Eventually, the anti-immigration protesters draped in union flags began to chant ‘Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy Robinson’ celebrating the far-right extremist.

‘You’re being paid, you don’t want to be here, you would not be here from your own free will’ shouted the man in the West Ham shirt, who accused the anti-racism protesters of being ‘bussed in from Brighton’.

Eventually the Stand Up to Racism protesters were escorted back towards Horley train station where their march had begun.

Demonstrators have also gathered outside of a migrant hotel in Tamworth, Staffordshire.

Tamworth Council has said it would look to challenge the use of the Holiday Inn Express in town, which was a focus of violent disorder during the Southport riots last summer.

In a statement, it said: ‘The situation at Epping Forest represents a potentially important legal precedent, and we are carefully assessing what this might mean for our circumstances here in Tamworth.’

In Newcastle, demonstrators have gathered outside the New Bridge Hotel. 

Newcastle City Council has been in active talks with the Home Office this month to end the use of a city hotel to house asylum seekers, with Newcastle Labour leader Karen Kilgour having called for it to be closed down. 

Yvette Cooper has warned the asylum system would be plunged into ‘chaos’ if migrant hotels were forced to close as a result of ‘piecemeal court decisions’ by councils bringing copycat litigation.

Labour has said it plans to end the use of asylum hotels, but that this must be done in an orderly fashion. 

It comes after a judge ordered the hotel to temporarily shut after Epping Forest District Council argued it was necessary for ‘the safety of nearby residents’ and to reduce the threat of ‘violent protests’.

 Meanwhile, police forces were braced for a wave of protests at hotels across the country this weekend as communities seek to replicate the results of Tuesday’s High Court ruling.

The Home Secretary said: ‘We agree with communities across the country that all asylum hotels need to close, including the Bell Hotel, and we are working to do so as swiftly as possible as part of an orderly, planned and sustained programme. 

‘That is the reason for the Home Office appeal in this case, to ensure that going forward, the closure of all hotels can be done in a properly managed way.’ 

The ruling threatens to collapse Labour’s asylum system as protesters take to the streets and councils across the country prepare to hit the Home Office with copycat litigation over the use of hotels in their areas.

But anti-racism groups have warned the ruling sets a ‘dangerous precedent’, with Stand Up To Racism saying that it will ’embolden the far-Right to call more protests outside hotels housing refugees’.

Responding to the Government’s legal bid, Epping Forest District Council’s finance chief Holly Whitbread said the move was ‘deeply disappointing’.

She said: ‘I hope that the Court of Appeal will make the right decision in upholding the decision of the High Court.

‘It’s not a piecemeal court decision, it’s a decision on a planning point.’

‘The Government keep churning out the line that they’re going to get all the hotels closed by the end of this Parliament. Our community can’t afford to wait another four years.’