Migrant hotel protests spread across the country with more planned today as cops clamp down on weekend of stand-offs
Yesterday protests were held across the country with demonstrations outside migrant hotels held in Norwich, Leeds, Southampton and Nottinghamshire.
3
3
Further demonstrations are planned today in Epping, Wolverhampton and Cheshire as anger over the Government's continued use of migrant hotels rises.
The protests have so far remained peaceful but some minor confrontations with counter protestors were seen.
A group of counter protesters wearing masks reportedly broke away from the main group at the Nottinghamshire demonstration and walked into the middle of the crowd.
Some were said to be carrying 'Stand Up to Racism' placards and were escorted away by police.
Further demonstrations are planned today in Epping, Wolverhampton and Cheshire as public anger over the Government's use of migrant hotels rises.
Police have so far arrested 18 people and charged seven in connection with the continuous protests in Epping.
The migrant hotel demonstrations began after an asylum seeker was charged with sexual assault.
The man is alleged to have attempted to kiss a 14-year-old girl.
Protests have spread across the country with demonstrations held earlier in the week outside the four-star Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf.
According to the latest Home Office data 32,000 asylum seekers are being housed in around 210 hotels across the country.
A record 24,000 migrants have crossed the Channel so far in 2025.
3
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ITV News
18 minutes ago
- ITV News
Home Office gives extra £100m for plans to tackle people-smuggling gangs
The Home Office is giving £100 million of extra funding to support the pilot of the new 'one in, one out' returns agreement between the UK and France and other efforts to crack down on small boat crossings. The cash will also pay for up to 300 more National Crime Agency (NCA) officers and new technology and equipment to step up intelligence-gathering on smuggling gangs. There will be more overtime for immigration compliance and enforcement teams as well as funding for interventions in transit countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Labour is seeking to deter smuggling gangs in a bid to bring down small boat crossings, which have reached 25,000 this year so far – a record for this point in the year. The 'one in, one out' deal agreed last month means the UK will for the first time be able to send migrants back to France in exchange for asylum seekers with links to Britain. Anyone who advertises small boat crossings or fake passports on social media could face up to five years in prison under a new offence to be introduced under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said Labour had set the foundations for a 'new and much stronger law enforcement approach' over the last year. 'Now this additional funding will strengthen every aspect of our plan and 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," Cooper said. '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 NCA has 91 ongoing investigations into people-smuggling networks affecting the UK, the agency's director general of operations Rob Jones said. The Conservatives criticised the funding announcement as a 'desperate grab for headlines which will make no real difference'. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: 'Labour has failed and their laughable claim to smash the gangs lies in tatters. They have no serious plan, just excuses, while ruthless criminal gangs flood our borders with illegal immigrants. 'The British public deserves real action, not empty slogans and tinkering at the edges. The Conservative Deportation Bill is the only real solution. Immediate detention, rapid removal and shutting down these illegal networks for good.'
The Independent
18 minutes ago
- The Independent
Yvette Cooper pours extra £100m into efforts to smash people-smuggling gangs
The government will pour an extra £100m into efforts to tackle migration as pressure piles on ministers to crack down on small boat crossings. The money will support the pilot of the new "one in, one out" returns agreement between the UK and France, paying for up to 300 more National Crime Agency (NCA) officers and new technology and equipment to step up intelligence-gathering on smuggling gangs. There will be more overtime for immigration compliance and enforcement teams as well as funding for interventions in transit countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, the government said. Labour has put a pledge to crack down on the number of people coming to the UK on small boats at the centre of its plan for government. But with boat crossings at a record high, and the asylum backlog still above 75,000, there is mounting pressure on ministers to take more drastic action - pressure which is exacerbated by the success of Reform UK in the polls. It comes as tensions over asylum hotels continue to flare up, with a protest and counter-protests taking place on Saturday outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in north London, and also in Newcastle and Manchester. Last week figures showed that the number of migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the English Channel topped 25,000 in record time, piling pressure on the government to take further action. It is the earliest point in a calendar year at which the 25,000 mark has been passed since data on Channel crossings was first reported in 2018. The government has announced a number of measures to deter migrants from coming to the UK, with the "one in, one out" deal agreed last month meaning the UK will for the first time be able to send migrants back to France in exchange for asylum seekers with links to Britain. Meanwhile, anyone who advertises small boat crossings or fake passports on social media could be face up to five years in prison under a new offence to be introduced under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. The home secretary, who said Labour had set the foundations for a "new and much stronger law enforcement approach" over the last year, is also planning a major overhaul of the asylum system to speed up the processing of claims and make a dent in the backlog. 'Now this additional funding will strengthen every aspect of our plan and 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', Yvette Cooper said. '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 NCA has 91 ongoing investigations into people-smuggling networks affecting the UK, the agency's director general of operations Rob Jones said. But the Conservatives dismissed the funding announcement as a "desperate grab for headlines which will make no real difference". Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: "Labour has failed and their laughable claim to smash the gangs lies in tatters. They have no serious plan, just excuses, while ruthless criminal gangs flood our borders with illegal immigrants. "The British public deserves real action, not empty slogans and tinkering at the edges. The Conservative Deportation Bill is the only real solution. Immediate detention, rapid removal and shutting down these illegal networks for good."
Times
18 minutes ago
- Times
Police ‘harassed' pensioner over Gaza protest T-shirt
Officers have been accused of political policing, harassment and intimidation of a 78-year-old protester charged under terrorism legislation for allegedly wearing a T-shirt in support of the banned group Palestine Action. Mick Napier, co-founder of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, was arrested at a protest in Edinburgh on July 19 and spent a night in the cells before being released on bail on standard conditions. He said that during President Trump's trip to Scotland last month, officers had visited his home seven times, claiming they were there to remind him of his bail conditions. Napier's lawyer, Mark Harrower, has lodged a complaint with Police Scotland, claiming the actions were 'nothing short of harassment'. In it, he wrote that his client was a 'peaceful protester against the killing and starvation of innocent civilians in Gaza' who had been released on bail on July 22. Speaking to the Sunday Mail, he said: 'Since then, he has received seven separate visits from police officers at his home address to check whether he is aware of his bail conditions.' • Record number of arrests at Palestine Action protests across UK Harrower said that after the fourth visit, he had contacted the force to say Napier wanted the visits to stop. Yet they continued. The lawyer wrote: 'The only possible explanation for these repeated visits is to intimidate my client and his wife. 'Not only is this a huge waste of police resources, this behaviour makes Scotland look like it is turning into a police state. It is nothing short of harassment.' Harrower said that similar visits had been made to the homes of other protesters, raising concerns that police were becoming 'politically involved'. He said: 'It was clearly designed to intimidate them into not participating in any protests when Trump was in the country because it would've been embarrassing. 'It's really concerning. It curtails people's right to protest and freedom of speech and shouldn't be happening.' Palestine Action became a proscribed terrorist organisation last month after two Voyager military aircraft were vandalised at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on June 20. Membership of, or support for, the group became a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Police Scotland said: 'We carry out appropriate checks as required in line with conditions imposed by the courts.'
