EXCLUSIVE Migrant hotel fury spreads: Labour accused of 'taking advantage' of communities by moving in scores of asylum seekers - as protesters descend on hotels in London and Norfolk amid fears of a 'summer of riots'

Daily Mail​

6 days ago

Labour has been accused of 'taking advantage' of small tight-knit communities by bussing dozens of single male migrants into their hotels amid fears Britain could face a second summer of riots.
Sir Keir Starmer has been warned that the UK is a 'powder keg' that could explode into a repeat of the street violence that followed the Southport murders 12 months ago - unless Labour urgently gets a grip on migrant hotels.
It came as his deputy, Angela Rayner, warned that anger at high levels of illegal immigration is risking social cohesion in Britain's poorest communities and must be addressed.
The Park Hotel, in Diss, Norfolk, last night became the centre of another anti-migrant protest following a string of violent demonstrations in Epping, Essex, with more action planned across the country over the weekend.
Around 150 people gathered outside the 19-room hotel for a 'peaceful' protest after the Home Office announced plans to change it from housing asylum-seeker families to single men.
Footage posted on social media, including by supporters of far right activist Tommy Robinson, showed clashes between pro and anti-migrant groups and there are fears the change could bring tension to the sleepy market town.
It follows several nights of clashes outside the Bell Hotel, in Epping, after an asylum seeker was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl eight days after arriving in the UK.
And there are reports further protest could descend on London's financial district, Canary Wharf, this evening.
Yesterday, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage claimed Britain was getting close to 'civil disobedience on a vast scale' - and protesters are already plotting to take action outside more migrant hotels in the coming days.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, the leader of South Norfolk Council warned the 'anger' in Diss and around the country is 'real' as he echoed fears there could be a second summer of riots.
Conservative Councillor Daniel Elmer said: 'The risk of public discontent is real. I think that is unarguable. The fact that we already have protests proves that there is a risk of the public getting very, very upset with this to the point they're prepared to go out on the streets to stop it.'
Speaking about the protests at the hotel, he added: 'I think the anger here is completely understandable. I think they probably feel a bit taken advantage of because this was meant to be a family hotel.
'It was largely accepted two years ago on that basis. And now it feels like the Home Office is changing the goalposts again.'
Since 2023, the 19-room hotel - in the centre of Diss - has been used to house asylum seeker families, including several women and children, but there are fears the change to single adult men could bring tension to the market town.
Migrant hotels usually house two asylum seekers per room, meaning there could be at least 38 men bussed into Diss. But the council say the Home Office has not confirmed the numbers yet and they are 'incredibly disappointed' at the short notice.
Mr Elmer said that it is crucial how 'safe people feel' in the 'very small tight-knit community' of Diss, adding: 'It is indisputably true that lots of young adult men make people feel less safe than women and children.
'I understand why people are angry, and I would never want belittle that anger. I think it is obviously concerning if there is a risk of anything becoming violent.'
As well as the protests in Diss and Epping, demonstrations have already been planned in other parts of Norfolk and Worcestershire on Saturday, stoking fears more riots are on the way.
Mr Elmer said it was 'absolutely true' that there is a risk of more violence on the streets this summer.
Amid growing fears of further violence, Angela Rayner today told the Cabinet this morning they had to 'acknowledge the real concerns people have' about immigration and economic insecurity, hours after the anti-migrant clashes in Norfolk.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said today that Ms Rayner warned the Cabinet '17 of the 18 places that saw the worst of the disorder last summer ranked at the top of the most deprived, and while Britain was a successful multi-ethnic, multi-faith country, the Government had to show it had a plan to address people's concerns (and) provide opportunities for everyone to flourish'.
'I think she sees a link between concerns that people have about where the Government is acting on their behalf and acting in their interests, and a range of factors,' he said.
'High levels of immigration over the last 10 years, including illegal immigration, but also, importantly, the cost of living, economic security, the rapid pace of technological change and deindustrialisation and changes in the economy, these are all factors that have had an impact on our social fabric and social cohesion.'
The demonstration in Norfolk started with around 60 people shouting 'we want our country back'. They were met by about 30 counter-protesters from Stand Up To Racism holding signs that read 'refugees welcome'.
Footage posted on social media shows protesters - some wearing Union Jack bucket hats and holding St George's flags - and counter-protesters standing on both sides of the road outside the hotel.
But as tension mounted, they clashed with one another, with protesters crossing the road to confront the counter-protesters.
Loud chants of 'stop the boats' and 'send them home' could be heard, while protesters - including children - unfurled a banner which said 'enough is enough'. A counter-protester holding a 'Stop the far right' placard attempted to shout over them.
A protester using a megaphone could be heard confronting those opposing the demonstration with questions about why migrants should be housed in the UK. As the group grew to about 150, the refugee supporters then left the hotel and carried on elsewhere.
Julian Bareham, 71, who has lived opposite the Park Hotel for 22 years, complained: 'We don't know what these people are capable of.'
He said they are 'not going to socially integrate', adding: 'If there were too many of them wandering around Diss then I would feel alien within my own town.
'The hotel used to be a nice friendly community hub, an amenity that was well-respected and useful for those needing an overnight stay who were coming here for business. It is a huge loss.'
'After lockdown, the hotel never really recovered and the owners sold it to new owners who did a deal with the government and this deal, I believe has been a disaster for the town.'
A pensioner who lives opposite the hotel said she no longer feels safe in the area. Sheila, 78, who didn't want to give her surname, explained: 'I think it's dreadful that all men will be staying here.
'We are lucky that the protests yesterday were peaceful and didn't develop into riots that they have done previously elsewhere - but perhaps it could.'
Maureen Scott, 68, who has lived in the town all her life and had her wedding reception at the hotel 46 years ago, said she had been content with families living there and hoped the single men moving in would 'keep themselves to themselves'.
She added: 'I think it could have an effect on jobs here but I have no idea how long these people will be here. It is the great unknown.'
A 55-year-old man who lives near the hotel was supportive of the asylum seekers, however, and expressed concern about the tone of the protests.
'Yesterday was absolute chaos, people were shouting far right and ill-informed things about how these people will be molesting and raping the women and children of Diss,' he said.
'I felt absolutely threatened in my own home, they were saying that they are going to be coming every Sunday at 2pm. This is going to disrupt our peaceful family life and I am worried.
'We have had asylum seekers residing next door for the last three years or so, roughly, and there has never been any issues. It is far better and quieter than when the hotel was in operation.
'I hear families laughing and playing in the garden compared to late night music and revelry from weddings and other functions which sees bottles thrown into my property and smashed glass in the road which was always happening, fights with drunk people. It has been pleasant since the asylum seekers have been residing there.
'I am open-minded to men living there but I think I would prefer it to be families as it has been lovely so far.'
A police officer was seen with blood running down his cheek outside The Bell Hotel in Epping on July 20
South Norfolk Council has opposed plans to change the use of the hotel to single adult male migrants, saying it only learned about it in a brief email from Whitehall last week. The Home Office is in contact with Adrian Ramsay MP and the council.
The local authority argued families at the hotel had become part of the local community and replacing them with single men could see tension boil over as it has in other parts of the country.
The council's deputy leader, Councillor Graham Minshull, said the Home Office plans to change the hotel to house single adult men was 'deeply disappointing'.
A spokesman for Norfolk Police said: 'Officers maintained a presence in Denmark Street, Diss, on Monday evening to ensure the safety of all involved at a planned protest outside a commercial premises. No arrests were made.'
The Diss protest comes after hundreds of furious locals gathered outside the Bell Hotel in Epping on Thursday after Ethiopian resident Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, was charged with sex attacks on schoolgirls.
The protest started peacefully, but descended into frenzied violence when anti-migrant demonstrators clashed with counter protesters and police.
Eight police officers were injured on Thursday, while protests have continued to take place in the days since. Sunday was the fourth in just nine days - with around 500 people gathering outside the hotel.
Although it was calmer on Sunday, troublemakers hid their faces in the crowd and there were a few flashpoints when bottles and firecrackers were thrown at police.
The Prime Minister is facing pressure to act to prevent a repeat of 2024, when towns and cities were hit by violent, often racist protests triggered by the Southport child murders.
At the same time, the leader of Epping Forest District Council warned that far right groups could feed off discontent if migrant hotels are not closed.
Chris Whitbread told BBC Newsnight that the council had warned the Home Office the hotel was the wrong site, adding: 'It's a powder keg now and we need to get something done and we need the Home Office to listen.'
He went on: 'My concerns are for next week, or this week, if Tommy Robinson turns up, if we see another example of what happened on Thursday evening, we really have got to get this back under control.
He told Mr Robinson - whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon he was 'not welcome' and should stay away, but added: 'What we want is the Home Office to act sensibly, recognise that this hotel is in the wrong location for this type of use and close it as quickly as possible.'
Mr Farage has also weighed in on the Epping protests, saying: 'I don't think anybody in London can understand just how close we are to civil disobedience on a vast scale in this country.'
He accepted there were some 'bad eggs that turned up', including 'the usual far-Right thugs', but added: 'Do I understand how people in Epping feel? You bet your life I do.
'Don't underestimate the simmering anger and disgust there is in this country that we are letting in every week, in fact some days, many hundreds of undocumented young males, many of whom come from cultures in which women and young girls are not even treated as second-class citizens.
'I do understand the genuine upset and anger, and I'll bet you that most of the people outside that hotel in Epping weren't far-Right or far-Left or anything like that, they were genuinely concerned families.'
The Reform UK leader warned Britain is on the brink of 'societal collapse' as he vowed to halve crime in five years if her becomes prime minister.
Launching a six-week policy blitz on tackling 'lawless Britain', Mr Farage said yesterday: 'We're actually facing, in many parts of our country, nothing short of societal collapse.
'People are scared to go out to the shops, scared to let their kids out. That is a society that is degraded, and it's happening very, very rapidly. Respect for those in uniform has declined massively.'
The PM's official spokesperson has said there are now just over 200 migrant hotels, down from 400 under the Conservatives. But they failed to address whether the Epping protests will accelerate the Government's efforts to close these hotels.
The cost of policing protests outside the Epping hotel has reached £100,000, police said.
On Sunday, more than 100 demonstrators assemble outside the hotel with some chanting 'save our kids'.
Thursday's demonstration was one of a series of protests outside the hotel since asylum seeker Kebatu was charged with sexual assault following an incident where he is alleged to have attempted to kiss a 14-year-old girl.
Kebatu denied the charge when he appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on Thursday.
Essex Police said six people were arrested on Sunday evening and remain in custody, including a 17-year-old male on suspicion of causing criminal damage to a police car.
Four were arrested on Sunday for alleged offences during Thursday's protest, police said.