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Asylum
hotel protests expected to swell this weekend - as Farage unveils 'mass
deportation' plan
More
demonstrations organised under the Abolish Asylum System slogan are expected
across major towns and cities today. It comes as Reform UK leader Nigel Farage
has vowed "mass deportations" of illegal immigrants if his party wins
the next general election.
Saturday
23 August 2025 07:10, UK
A weekend
of protests and counter-protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers began
last night, with dozens expected today.
Saturday
is set to see more demonstrations across major towns and cities in England,
organised under the Abolish Asylum System slogan, with at least 33 planned over
the bank holiday weekend.
The
protests are expected in Bristol, Exeter, Tamworth, Cannock, Nuneaton,
Liverpool, Wakefield, Newcastle, Horley, Canary Wharf, Aberdeen and Perth in
Scotland, and Mold in Wales.
Counter-protests
- organised by Stand Up To Racism - are also set to be held in Bristol,
Cannock, Leicester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Wakefield, Horley and Long Eaton in
Derbyshire.
It comes
after Friday night saw the first demonstrations of the weekend, including one
outside the TLK hotel in Orpington, south London.
Dozens of
protesters could be heard shouting "get them out" and "save our
children" next to the site, while counter protesters marched to the hotel
carrying banners and placards which read: "Refugees welcome, stop the far
right."
The
Metropolitan Police said a large cordon was formed between the two groups and
the hotel, and later confirmed that no arrests were made.
18
councils pursuing or considering legal action to block asylum hotels
Tensions
around the use of the hotels for asylum seekers are at a high after statistics
showed there were more than 32,000 asylum seekers currently staying in hotels,
marking a rise of 8% during Labour's first year in office.
Regular
protests had been held outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, which started
after an asylum seeker housed there was charged with sexually assaulting a
14-year-old girl on 10 July.
In the
wake of those protests, Epping Forest District Council sought and won an
interim High Court injunction to stop migrants from being accommodated there -
a decision which the government is seeking permission to appeal.
Farage
vows 'mass deportations' if elected
Meanwhile,
Nigel Farage has told The Times there would be "mass deportations" of
illegal immigrants if Reform UK wins the next general election, vowing to
remove the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights and other
international agreements to facilitate five deportation flights a day.
When
asked by the newspaper whether that would include Afghan nationals at risk of
torture or death, he said: "I'm really sorry, but we can't be responsible
for everything that happens in the whole of the world.
"Who
is our priority? Is it the safety and security of this country and its people?
Or are we worrying about everybody else and foreign courts?"
Minister
of State for Border Security and Asylum Angela Eagle said in response that the
Reform UK leader is "simply plucking numbers out of the air, another pie
in the sky policy from a party that will say anything for a headline".
She
added: "This Labour government has substantially increased returns with
35,000 people removed from the country in the last year alone, a huge increase
on the last government.
"We
are getting a grip of the broken asylum system. Making sure those with no right
to be here are removed or deported."
Labour
has pledged to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by the end of this
parliament in 2029.
Conservative
MP and shadow home secretary Chris Philp also accused Reform UK of recycling
Tory ideas on immigration.
"Nigel
Farage previously claimed mass deportations were impossible, and now he says
it's his policy," he added. "Who knows what he'll say next."
Home
Office stops Norfolk hotel
It comes
after South Norfolk Council said it had been told that the Home Office intends
to stop housing asylum seekers at the Park Hotel in the town of Diss - which
has also seen demonstrations over the last month.
Protests
broke out there after officials said they would send single men to the hotel
rather than women and children. The hotel's operator had warned it would close
if the change was implemented.
A Home
Office spokesperson said on Friday that "we are not planning to use this
site beyond the end of the current contract".
In
response, Conservative council leader Daniel Elmer said: "The Home Office
thought it could just impose this change and that we would accept it.
"But
there is a right way of doing things and a wrong way, and the decision by the
Home Office was just plain wrong."
He added
that while "I welcome the decision, in reality it does mean that the women
and children who we fought so hard to protect will now be moved elsewhere, and
that is a shame".
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