
Hotel protests must not be used to ‘have a pop at the police'
Some of the money will support the 'one in, one out' returns agreement pilot with France, and some will go towards funding extended police powers to seize digital devices.
Protesters have gathered outside hotels over recent weeks throughout the country, including in London, Newcastle and Epping in Essex, calling for their closure.
Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick has warned that 'the public's patience with the asylum hotels and with the whole issue of illegal migration has snapped', after small boat crossings topped 25,000 for the year so far, a record for this point in the year.
Asked on Sky News what her message was to protesters, Dame Angela said: 'Anger doesn't get you anywhere.
'What we have to do is recognise the values we have in this country, the rule of law we have in this country, the work we're doing with the police to protect people.
'We will close asylum hotels by the end of the Parliament.
'We'll do it faster if we can.'
Dame Angela also said: 'We are doing all we can to deal with the challenges that the police are facing on the streets to make sure that women and girls are safe, and in fact, that everybody is safe on our streets.'
She had earlier told Times Radio: 'Those who are worried and demonstrating have an absolute right to do that, so long as they do it peacefully.
'People don't have a right to then have a pop at the police, which has been happening in some isolated cases outside hotels.'
Referring to plans to let police seize devices from people suspected of facilitating people smuggling, Dame Angela said the Government does not 'want absolutely every phone'.
She told Times Radio: 'But we do want the phones of the people that we think are organising and facilitating, and this extra money will enable us to do much quicker analytics of the phones that we seize.
'But of course, we've got to get the Border Security Bill on the statute book to give us those extra powers.'
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill has cleared the Commons but must undergo further scrutiny in the Lords before it becomes law.
Turning to social media creators who advertise illegal routes into the UK, Dame Angela said: 'We will stop anyone who comes to the UK where we've got evidence, and what happens is that the people smugglers are getting people to say how safe the journeys were and do adverts once they're in the UK.
'We will stop that, and we will also deal with other jurisdictions and ask them to help us deal with this as well, we could certainly do that in the EU with our colleagues in Germany, in France.'
Where there is 'evidence that legal routes to visas are being misused', the Government will 'tighten up the rules to stop that abuse happening', the minister added.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has previously said the money, which will also help pay for surveillance capabilities and data analysis tools, will 'turbo-charge the ability of our law enforcement agencies to track the gangs and bring them down, working with our partners overseas, and using state-of-the-art technology and equipment'.
She added: 'Alongside our new agreements with France, this will help us drive forward our plan for change commitments to protect the UK's border security and restore order to our immigration system.'
The National Crime Agency has 91 ongoing investigations into people smuggling networks affecting the UK, the agency's director general of operations Rob Jones said.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Jenrick said: 'The public's patience with the asylum hotels and with the whole issue of illegal migration has snapped.
'This is an issue that is beyond party politics.
'It is causing immense harm to communities, and people's lives are being wrecked as a result of it, and we simply have to fix it.
'I respect those people who are peacefully protesting outside hotels this weekend, I understand why they feel so concerned.
'They're seeing their communities damaged, and I'm afraid there is increasing evidence of a serious link between illegal migration, migration generally, and crime, particularly sexual crime, against women and girls.'
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Times
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North Wales Chronicle
22 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
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Western Telegraph
23 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
Proscribing Palestine Action has 'empowered' far-right, say protesters
An organiser of the Friends of Al-Mawasi group, based in Hastings, East Sussex, said the UK Government has 'empowered' extremists by trying to 'demonise' Palestine supporters. In July, Hastings Borough Council passed a motion to back an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, an end to all arms sales to Israel and to support the town's friendship links with the people of Al-Mawasi – a section of the Gaza Strip. Those extremists have been empowered by a Government that says, people supporting Palestine are terrorists, d'you know what I mean? Grace Lally, protest organiser Last month, at a fundraising walk, there were multiple alleged incidents of verbal and physical abuse from counter-protesters which were reported to the police. A woman, waiting for the demonstrators at De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill, was pushed to the ground and called a 'f****** terrorist' for wearing a keffiyeh, while a Jewish man, whose father escaped the Holocaust, was repeatedly called a Nazi by Israel supporters. Both incidents were reported to Sussex Police after the walk on July 20. On Sunday, roughly 100 protesters ran a second fundraising walk from Hastings beach along the coast to Bexhill 'in defiance' of the abuse. Grace Lally, who helped set up the group and campaigned for the town to twin with Al-Mawasi, believes there is a 'clear link' between the Government action and the abuse. She said: 'Those extremists have been empowered by a Government that says, people supporting Palestine are terrorists, d'you know what I mean?' Ms Lally added: 'The reason it's being challenged in the court and the reason the court has given permission for a judicial review to be held is because of the chilling effect of that ruling which blurs the line between protest and terrorism.' She said it did not matter that the Government had only proscribed Palestine Action rather than all protesters. We may see some people trying to antagonise us, cause issues, trying to be abusive, aggressive, offensive, let's remember the strength, perseverance and patience that our Palestinian brothers and sisters have when we face this Yunis Smith, Green Party councillor 'That (the decision) I think has emboldened people on the far-right, extremists, to sort of see anyone who's supporting Palestine as a legitimate target,' Ms Lally said. On Saturday, more than 500 people were arrested in central London for showing support for Palestine Action. Richard Wistreich, a member of Jews for Justice Hastings, was one of the demonstrators who faced abuse in the July fundraising march. He told the PA news agency that cars had parked on their route to Bexhill, with a couple of people waving Israeli flags and shouting abuse as the protesters passed by. Mr Wistreich, whose father escaped Poland in the late 1930s, said: 'At one point one of them got out of the car and saw my T-shirt, which made it quite clear that I am proclaiming myself to be Jewish. 'So I was then very loudly told that I was not a Jew and in fact I was a Nazi, in a very, very aggressive manner.' The woman wearing the keffiyeh, who wishes to remain anonymous, said a man approached her on the pavilion aggressively and said 'that scarf', which she ignored. She said: 'I wasn't responding to him at all because he looked so angry and then he went 'you're a f****** terrorist' and then he proceeded to grab the scarf and pull me close to him.' The woman said she tried to get his hands off her, but he pushed her to the ground and she hit her head, before two people intervened and pulled the man off her. Palestine is made up of communities of people and those people, they're not going away, they will rebuild, this will end, there will be a future for them and twinning sort of is just a testament to that Grace Lally, protest organiser On Sunday afternoon, the protesters were wary of further incidents but bolstered by much greater numbers, and the vast majority of passers-by seemed supportive. A few made comments which the protesters ignored. Before the walk, Green Party councillor Yunis Smith said: 'We may see some people trying to antagonise us, cause issues, trying to be abusive, aggressive, offensive, let's remember the strength, perseverance and patience that our Palestinian brothers and sisters have when we face this.' When links between the towns were first set up in 2022, Al-Mawasi, located in western Khan Younis, was a rural farming and fishing town with a population of 12,000. According to the United Nations, there were 425,000 displaced Palestinians living in the area as of June 19, and the protesters said the figure is now closer to 600,000. Israel is obliged under international humanitarian law to ensure adequate and safe shelter for internally displaced people, as well as access to food, water, and medical care, until they can return to their homes. A United Nations report released in June said that Israel had not made 'any effort' to comply with those laws since its offensive began. 'I can't understand how anybody, regardless of your political persuasion, can see this level of injustice and not break inside, I just don't, I don't get it,' said councillor Smith. Ms Lally said it was 'bittersweet' to have the council finally twin with Al-Mawasi given the devastation in the area, but still felt it was a positive step. 'Palestine is made up of communities of people and those people, they're not going away, they will rebuild, this will end, there will be a future for them and twinning sort of is just a testament to that,' she said.