Anti-migrant protests continue at Epping hotel
Hadush Kebatu, 41, from Ethiopia, has denied the offences and is in custody.Police say 2,000 pro-immigration counter-protesters have started to make their way to the hotel from the town's station to a pen close to the anti-migrant protest.Some are chanting "Say it loud, say it clear - refugees are welcome here", and holding posters, banners and placards with slogans including "Unity is strength" and "Stand up to racism".As well as Essex Police, officers from the Metropolitan, Durham, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, West Midlands, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Cheshire, Dyfed-Powys & Hampshire forces are at the scene.The county force has put a dispersal order in place from 12:00 BST on Sunday to 08:00 on Monday, covering the town centre, transport hubs and networks.This gives police the power to direct anyone suspected of committing anti-social behaviour, or planning to do so, to leave the area or face arrest.Ten people have been charged with offences in relation to this month's disorder in the town, with defendants due to appear at Chelmsford Crown Court on 18 August.On Saturday, about 400 anti-immigration protesters and 150 counter-protesters gathered for a demonstration outside a hotel in the Norwich area. Police said no arrests were made there.
Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
3 minutes ago
- The Independent
Rough deal: Social media roasts Trump's golf game after clip appears to show alleged cheating in Scotland
Social media users pounced on a clip that appears to show Donald Trump cheating on the golf course during his ongoing trip to Scotland, the latest in a long line of accusations that the president cheats on the fairway. In the video circulated by liberal commentators, a caddy appears to walk ahead of the golf-loving president in his golf cart and drop a ball behind him as the president approaches. 'Trump working hard to bring down grocery prices,' the caption says, making a satirical reference to the president's campaign promises to tackle inflation and costs 'For the morons that think Trump doesn't cheat at golf and wins all those club championships fair and square….watch his caddie here,' another account wrote. The phrase 'commander in cheat' was soon trending on the social media site. 'The video of Trump's caddy doing an Oddjob Slazenger drop isn't a big deal; cheating at golf isn't nearly the worst thing about Trump,' wrote The Atlantic 's Tom Nichols. 'But watching the cult of personality try to explain it away is really some creepy North Korean level stuff.' The Independent has requested comment from the White House. The president has faced a long list of accusations that he doesn't play fair from figures ranging from actor Samuel Jackson to LPGA player Suzann Pettersen. Trump's alleged cheating, which has always denied, is even the subject of a book: Rick Reilly's Commander in Cheat. 'At Winged Foot, where Trump is a member, the caddies got so used to seeing him kick his ball back onto the fairway they came up with a nickname for him: Pele,' Reilly writes in the book. Controversy has always followed Trump, an avid golfer and developer of golf resorts, when he hits the 18 holes. The president has golfed at least 45 days out of his 189 days in office this year, or roughly 24 percent of his second term thus far. In April, the president faced criticism for attending an event from Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf while missing the return ceremony for the remains of four dead American soldiers. Others have criticized the president's promotion of his business interests on his own properties. During the Scotland trip, Trump met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at his Turnberry golf course to announce an EU trade deal, and the president plans to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday for a new course in Aberdeenshire. The White House described the Scotland tour as a 'working trip' while touting that Trump 'has built the best and most beautiful world-class golf courses anywhere in the world, which is why they continue to be used for prestigious tournaments and by the most elite players in the sport.' The president's Mar-a-Lago club and estate in Florida, near one his golf courses, has also emerged as a key hub for lobbying and fundraising, home to visits from tech billionaires and $1-million-per-head fundraising dinners. In the Middle East, meanwhile, the president's family company, the Trump Organization, recently struck a deal to build a golf resort in Qatar, weeks before the nation announced the gift of a $400 million Boeing 747 plane to be used for the new Air Force One. Despite the administration's insistence on cutting government spending, the president has also reportedly drained taxpayers of over $10 million in costs related to his many golf trips, while the Secret Service has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars for the use of golf carts and port-a-potties at Trump's New Jersey golf club. Since retaking office, Trump and his family businesses have taken in hundreds of millions of dollars on business ventures including cryptocurrency, real estate, and branded merchandise. 'He is president and is supposed to be working in the public's interest,' James Thurber, an emeritus professor at American University, told The Associated Press last month. 'Instead, he is helping his own personal interest to grow his wealth. It's totally not normal.'
Telegraph
4 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Modern Britain's counsel of despair
There can be no greater indicator of hopelessness in Government than the flailing around this weekend of Sir Keir Starmer and his ministers. Even as the people of this country were protesting up and down the land from Glasgow to Diss in Norfolk our Prime Minister was fixated on a country far away, negotiating with the EU for a way to airdrop aid into Gaza. Demonstrations have taken place all weekend against the occupation of migrant hotels even as more illegals found their way to our shores. Larger and larger crowds of demonstrators have been gathering to demand an end to the housing of 'asylum seekers' and a shutting down of our borders. But if you'd been monitoring the output from Downing Street, you might not know it. With every international policy that emanates from the office of the Prime Minister – such as the promise to recognise Palestinian statehood at some point in the future – there is often a domestic act with far reaching consequences. The latest betrayal of the British people is a plan to spend millions on repurposing housing with local councils in order to accommodate yet more asylum seekers. There are apparently 700,000 potential homes in London, Leeds, Liverpool and Birmingham. The Government would pay for councils to either lease or buy the properties and then renovate them en masse. Not only has the proposed pilot scheme angered homeless campaigners but it will dismay many younger people who were promised the vote only last week. After all, what hope will teenagers have of ever buying their own home if the current supply, and even newer converted properties, are earmarked for new arrivals to the country? And to make matters worse an elite police squad has been set up to monitor anti-migrant posts on social media. They're going to be pretty busy. Britain has never been more categorically in a state of disrepair. Yet it seems as though this Government and its ministers are determined not to acknowledge it. Instead it seems determined to downgrade our status ever further. Consider what's happened over the last few days. President Donald Trump arrived in Scotland with a warning that immigration was ruining not just this country but all of Europe. We learnt that dozens of Taliban fighters are amongst the many thousands of Afghan refugees who came to the UK under the resettlement scheme. That terrorists from the Middle East have entered the country posing as asylum seekers. We've also seen a rise in homeless foreigners sleeping on our streets. It is fostering resentment, and a mounting sense of unfairness. Sixth-formers might have the vote in 2029, but how many will support Labour against this backdrop? As the anger deepens around the country over immigration and the way the government is failing to control it, Starmer's proposal to bring Palestinian children to Britain will be met with further alarm. In a weekend poll, 27 per cent of Brits said they didn't 'sympathise' with either side. We can perhaps read into this that it is not an issue of great importance to them. More and more people are telling me that they have had enough of being treated like second class citizens and they hold the Labour Government responsible. Who can blame them?
The Sun
4 minutes ago
- The Sun
The writing's on the billboard, PM — nothing works and Labour isn't listening
IT is one of the most iconic images in modern political campaigning — and it could soon be back to haunt Sir Keir Starmer. Giant billboards showing a long dole queue snaking out of a Job Centre with the slogan 'Labour isn't working' captured the nation's attention nearly half a century ago. 3 3 Back before Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister, it was used to depict rising unemployment. But today the line could illustrate a myriad of problems engulfing the government. The endless stream of illegal migrants arriving on small boats, for instance. 'Petty' criminals waiting outside stores to begin organised shoplifting sprees. The 6.2million patients on NHS waiting lists or the 1.3million families in England in the queue for social housing. Mass migration's strain on public services is clear for all to see. But in the past few days, people have drawn a more alarming conclusion — that illegal migration and rising crime are linked. This has created a toxic mix of anger, frustration and fear which triggered a series of demos. Women say they no longer feel safe and there is a deepening sense of unease about the large numbers of undocumented young men being moved into local hotels. France claims migrants crossing the Channel on small boats see Britain as an 'El Dorado' — but it's become Hell Dorado for many living here. Growing suspicion Convicts are freed early from overcrowded jails, 90 per cent of bike thefts go unsolved, and shoplifting is up 20 per cent in a year to a 20-year high. Retailers say this is because police refuse to investigate theft of items worth less than £200. That's probably because they are too busy combing through our social media accounts looking for 'hate crimes'. All this, along with the whiff of cannabis on almost every street corner, has led many people to conclude that Britain has become lawless. It is truly staggering that our Prime Minister — a former public prosecutor who prides himself on the rule of law — is presiding over this. Discontent is being fuelled by the growing suspicion that we are importing crime. Migrants staying in taxpayer-funded hotels have joined organised shoplifting gangs which have stolen thousands of pounds worth of designer clothes from top stores. Fury came to a head after an Ethiopian asylum seeker staying at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. He has denied the offence. Today, The Sun reveals that four in ten people charged over sex attacks in London in the past seven years are foreign nationals. Ministry of Justice figures show Afghans and Eritreans — among the top nationalities arriving by boat — were at least 20 times more likely to account for sexual offence convictions than Brits. Taxpayers footing the £5.7million-a-day bill for migrant hotels face a double whammy when lawyers use legal aid to block the deportation of foreign offenders. It's not just that Labour isn't working. Nothing works and Labour isn't listening A Lebanese man accused of murdering his beauty queen wife, who entered Britain on a small boat, was jailed for nine months for attempting to arrive without valid documents last week. But when he completes his sentence, he is unlikely to be deported as human rights laws will forbid his return home where he could face execution. The public's sense of injustice is magnified when they stage a peaceful protest and hear MPs branding them hard-right agitators. Or when they see cops escorting far-left counter demonstrators to the same migrant hotel. Yet the Government's response to the protests is to set up a police team to monitor social media for anti-migrant comments. People are beginning to make a link between the undesirables coming into Britain unchecked and rising crime Nigel Farage What is different about these demos — and should be ringing alarm bells in Downing Street — is that they are being attended mostly by mums, who are genuinely worried about their own and their children's safety. This is the silent majority who have had enough and think it is time to speak out. Nigel Farage has been quick to spot this simmering resentment and has launched a six-week campaign to highlight rising crime. The Reform UK leader declared: 'People are beginning to make a link between the undesirables coming into Britain unchecked and rising crime. There is also a mounting sense of anger that the establishment is always trying to stop us from having a reasonable debate.' Politics is broken He has promised to spend £17billion on new prisons built on military bases, hire 30,000 extra police and send murderers and paedophiles to serve their sentences in El Salvador. Labour scoffs it is an uncosted plan drawn up on the back of one of Farage's fag packets — but their hoots of derision won't convince those mums protesting outside migrant hotels. They've endured 14 years of Tory rule, and after less than 14 months of Labour have concluded that politics is broken. It's not just that Labour isn't working. Nothing works and Labour isn't listening. Farage now thinks women could win him the next election. Most people joining his bandwagon in the past few days have been female. It was 58 per cent men and 42 per cent women at the general election but now it's a 50-50 split, he says. This is one reason why his party has topped the last 65 opinion polls. The other is a breakdown in trust among voters. They have lost faith in the police. And they feel betrayed by politicians who they perceive as closing down any debate on their concerns and putting the rights of illegal migrants ahead of hard-working Brits. The social contract is in danger of breaking down as all they get in return for paying record taxes is platitudes and promises. Successive governments vowed to 'take back control', 'stop the boats' and 'smash the gangs'. The former human rights lawyer in No10 may not have his heart in tackling the migrant crisis. But he knows if he doesn't, the next line of people he sees will be those queuing up to vote him out of office. THE nanny state is throwing its protective arm around even more aspects of our daily lives. It now offers advice that goes far beyond the familiar 'mind the gap'. Walking through a London rail terminal the other day, I was dazzled by three video screens urging me and my fellow travellers to 'remember to keep drinking water in the hot weather'. A few steps further on another message cautioned: 'Please watch your step. The floor may be wet'. It was probably caused by panicking passengers rushing to rehydrate. While another flashing sign advised those with heavy luggage to use the lifts instead of struggling up and down stairs. Who'd have thought of that? Well, I've got some advice for Network Rail. See it. Say it. Stop it.
