Hundreds of protesters gather at asylum hotel in Norwich area
On Monday, about 150 protesters gathered outside a hotel in Diss, Norfolk, housing asylum-seeking families in protest again Home Office plans to house single adult males there instead.Two men were arrested on Saturday morning on suspicion of affray in relation to a protest at the Diss hotel and an earlier one at the hotel in the Norwich area.Rival groups have also clashed outside The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, during several demonstrations since 13 July.Ten people have been charged with offences in relation to disorder there.
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The Independent
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The Independent
26 minutes ago
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We're prepared if protests turn violent, police say ahead of string of anti-migrant demonstrations
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The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
Fact check: Bank has held rates four out of nine times since Labour took power
The Labour Party has claimed that since it was elected to Government, the Bank of England has cut interest rates 'five times in a row'. The party said: 'Interest rates have now been cut five times in a row since Labour came into power.' The message was also shared in a social media graphic which read: 'Interest rates have been cut five times in a row with Labour.' Evaluation The Bank of England has cut rates five times since Labour got into power. But these cuts were not at consecutive meetings of the Bank's rate setters. At four meetings – every other meeting since July 2024 – the Bank has actually decided to hold rates unchanged. The facts Interest rates in the UK are not set by the Government, but by an independent nine-person committee run by the Bank of England. This group is called the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) and it meets eight times a year. Since Labour got into power in early July 2024, the MPC has made nine separate decisions on rates. The committee has cut rates on every other occasion it has met since the election – starting on August 1 2024 – with the most recent cut being confirmed on August 7 2025. That has produced five cuts in total. But at the other four meetings the MPC decided to hold rates unchanged. By saying 'in a row' it is possible that Labour means that there have not been any interest rate hikes in between the cuts. However, this ignores all the times that the MPC has actively voted to leave rates unchanged. At the time of publication Labour had not responded to an email asking it to clarify how the five cuts are considered to be 'in a row'. Links
