Anti-racism campaigners outnumber those opposing hotel being used as Home Office accommodation
Anti-racism demonstrators turned out in large numbers on Saturday outside a London hotel where asylum seekers are being housed to counter-protest against those opposed to it being used as Home Office accommodation.
Both groups of protesters gathered near the Thistle City Barbican hotel in Islington, north London. Police later said that a number of arrests had been made after scuffles broke out.
The Metropolitan police wrote on X that officers had cleared a junction where counter-protesters had assembled in breach of the conditions in place. “There have been nine arrests so far, with seven for breaching Public Order Act conditions,” the force said.
The police said the anti-hotel protest was organised by a number of people under the banner “Thistle Barbican needs to go – locals say no”, but it has since been endorsed by groups from outside the area. Online groups that have voiced support for the protest include Patriots of Britain and Together for the Children.
One speaker at the anti-hotel protest, which had a turnout of about 100 people, claimed counter-protesters had been paid by “the Labour government and the trade unions” to attend. Some of those who had gathered across the road from the hotel wore Mega (Make England great again) hats and one man was heard chanting “Get these scum off our streets” towards the hotel.
Directly outside the hotel, hundreds of people attended a counter-protest organised by Stand Up to Racism and supported by the former Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is the MP for Islington North, located on the other side of the borough. They far outnumbered the anti-hotel protesters.
Some people in the hotel could be seen watching the demonstration from their windows. Sarah Bailey, 63, who is retired, held a sign that said: “To everyone in the hotel, you are valued, wanted [and] welcome. She said: “I know somebody that has connections with this hotel. I thought it was so important, because I realised they would be looking out of the windows, that we send a positive sign saying you are all these three things.
“I think it’s so important to show people that have come here seeking safety and protection that they are welcome and to stand up to those who scare and bully them.” Pat Prendergast, 21, said: “I want people to feel safe. I think the [anti-hotel protesters] over there are making people feel unsafe. I want to stand up in solidarity and say that, you know, we want people here.”
A separate group of masked protesters, dressed in black and chanting “we are anti-fascist”, appeared from a sidestreet and marched towards the anti-hotel demonstration. Manchester was the scene of further clashes between rival protesters later on Saturday.
Demonstrators calling for mass “remigration” gathered in the city centre for a march organised by the far-right Britain First group, which was confronted by anti-racism groups.
“Send them back, don’t let them in – just stop them coming in, we’ve got hotels full of immigrants and we’ve got our own homeless people in the streets begging for food but nowhere to live,” said protester Brendan O’Reilly, 66.
