
Mercure Hotel Newport not housing asylum seekers
Despite the online noise surrounding the hotel, both the Mercure Hotel and Newport City Council have issued clear statements refuting the claims.
A spokesperson for the Mercure Hotel said: 'We confirm that this property is operating as a hotel as usual, and as such it remains fully open to guests. The property has not been designated for any alternative use. Any suggestions to the contrary are incorrect.'
Newport City Council also clarified its position.
'Accommodation for people seeking asylum is provided by the Home Office and their housing partners. We do not have any hotels in Newport operating under these arrangements,' a spokesperson said.
A suggestion that the hotel was being used in this way had been posted as a comment on an Argus story online, before being removed.
Visitors come and go from the Mercure Hotel in Newport as the premises is open for business as usual. (Image: NQ) On Friday, August 8, The Argus reported on a demonstration and counter-demonstration at the Holiday Inn, Rhoose, over suggestions it was being used to house asylum seekers.
In fact, the hotel in the Vale of Glamorgan is housing Afghans who supported the British military efforts in their home country and are now in danger from the Taliban. They are in the UK not as asylum seekers but as entitled persons who have been granted the right to live here.
The Mercure Hotel in Newport, meanwhile, continues to operate as normal, welcoming guests and serving the community, not as a facility for asylum accommodation.

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Scotsman
23 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Why Scottish independence is the opposite of Brexit and John Swinney's plan is the right one
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The SNP, and Scotland, suffered a grievous loss this week with the passing of former Presiding Officer George Reid, the last of the 1970s intake of SNP MPs. George was pro-independence because he was an internationalist. He recognised that for Scotland, and its citizens, to thrive, it needed to be a full member of, and active participant in, the European and broader international community. Not because Scotland is unique or better than any of its neighbours, but for the rather more mundane reason that Scotland should simply be the same as them. 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In 2016, the SNP won a greater share of the vote and constituency seats than either Boris Johnson's Conservatives did in 2019 (bringing in profound changes with what they considered to be a mandate for a hard Brexit) or Keir Starmer's Labour did in 2024. If the Union is a voluntary one, then what are the rules for ending it? One cannot simply make them up after an election. If the Union is no longer voluntary, then it is a very different one from that on the ballot in 2014. If so, we deserve a vote on that prospectus as do the hundreds of thousands of Scots who have never had the opportunity to vote on sovereignty. We are still a long way out from the Holyrood elections. At this stage 15 years ago, the SNP had just lost heavily to Labour in the 2010 general election and were behind in the polls. Bookies had the SNP at 11-2 to be the biggest party in 2011. There is all to play for. If, like George did, you believe in an outward-looking, internationalist Scotland then it has to be backing the First Minister's plan for both votes SNP.


New Statesman
44 minutes ago
- New Statesman
The Brits who want to overthrow the state
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New Statesman
44 minutes ago
- New Statesman
What JD Vance was really doing in Britain this week
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