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Protests and counter-protests expected at asylum hotels across England
Dozens of protests outside hotels used as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers are expected over the weekend across England amid mounting tensions over the issue.
Figures released on Thursday showed there were more than 32,000 asylum seekers in hotels, marking a rise of 8% during Labour’s first year in office.
Anti-migrant protests and counter-demonstrations held by Stand Up to Racism are expected on Friday outside hotels believed to be used to house asylum seekers, including in Bournemouth, Cardiff and Leeds, with more expected on Saturday.
Meanwhile, councils across the country controlled by Labour, the Conservatives and Reform UK are investigating whether they could pursue legal challenges against asylum hotels.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said on Thursday that people had “every right” to protest over asylum hotels in their areas. While the number of asylum seekers rose in Labour’s first year, the new data shows they are still far below the 2023 peak, when the Conservatives were in government.
Labour has pledged to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by the end of this parliament in 2029.
The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, insisted Labour had taken “crucial steps” in the past year towards this by cutting the asylum backlog and money spent on the asylum system, increasing returns of asylum seekers whose applications had failed, and overhauling appeals.
We will update this blog with any news from the protests and counter-protests. Elsewhere, shadow home office minister Katie Lam has been on the morning media round for Conservatives and Labour mayor Oliver Coppard has been speaking to reporters about Speciality Steel, a steelworks that has been taken over by the government in an attempt to save jobs. More on this in a moment.
In other developments:
David Lammy has joined 20 other foreign ministers around the world in condemning Israeli plans to build an illegal settlement on the West Bank, with the Foreign Office summoning the Israeli ambblockador to communicate the government’s displeasure. The foreign secretary co-signed a joint statement on Thursday criticising the so-called E1 plan, a 3,400-home settlement that critics say would divide the West Bank in half.
Protesters at the next mblock demonstration against the ban on Palestine Action will withhold their details from officers to force en-mblocke processing at police stations in an effort to make it “practically impossible” to arrest everyone. On Friday, Defend Our Juries, the pressure group behind the protests, will open sign-ups for its next demonstration to be held in London on 6 September.
Elon Musk’s company, Tesla, should have its application to supply energy to UK homes blocked on national security grounds, Ed Davey has told ministers. The Liberal Democrat leader argued that giving the electric car manufacturer a foothold in the British energy market would be “a gravely concerning move considering Elon Musk’s repeated interference in UK politics”.
Key events
The mayor of South Yorkshire said there has been “interest from companies” who may want to “take on” steel sites after the government had to take control of the operation, reports the PA news agency.
The high court confirmed on Thursday that Speciality Steel – previously part of Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty Steel business – would face a compulsory liquidation. It has plants in Rotherham and Stocksbridge.
Labour mayor Oliver Coppard told BBC Breakfast:
We’ve got a team that we’ve stood up in my office, we’ve been working with the government’s steel team to make sure that we know exactly what’s going on here in terms of the blockets that are on the table.
We’ve had interest from companies who we know who want to take on these sites.
There’s other interests besides the ones that have come through my office, so we’re talking to the government all the time.
In a seperate interview on Thursday, Coppard said the government taking control of the UK’s third-largest steelworks was “good news” but that a conclusion should not be rushed.
Speaking in Sheffield, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
The government stepping in to take control now is good news because it just brings to an end the uncertainty that we’ve seen on the sites.
I think that was the thing that was killing the business slowly, we now have that uncertainty brought to an end, that’s a good thing. But I now need the government to make sure that these three sites, two in Rotherham and one here, have the brightest possible future.
So, we have to get a new owner in, the government, I think, should take their time over that process, not a neverending amount of time, but certainly not rush to a conclusion, to give people on the site that future that they deserve.
MSP Jeremy Balfour resigns from Scottish Conservatives over ‘reactionary politics’
Scottish Conservative MSP Jeremy Balfour has resigned from the party and will sit as an independent, reports the PA news agency.
In his resignation letter to party leader Russell Findlay, Balfour said the Scottish Conservatives have “fallen into the trap of reactionary politics” and that a “positive, proactive agenda for real change” has been rejected.
Balfour said he intends to continue to represent his constituents in the Lothian region for the remainder of the parliamentary session as an independent MSP.
In his letter, also posted on social media, Balfour said he has made the decision to resign with immediate effect with a “heavy heart”. However he said:
I no longer feel that the party has a positive platform to offer the people of Scotland.
Protests and counter-protests expected at asylum hotels across England
Dozens of protests outside hotels used as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers are expected over the weekend across England amid mounting tensions over the issue.
Figures released on Thursday showed there were more than 32,000 asylum seekers in hotels, marking a rise of 8% during Labour’s first year in office.
Anti-migrant protests and counter-demonstrations held by Stand Up to Racism are expected on Friday outside hotels believed to be used to house asylum seekers, including in Bournemouth, Cardiff and Leeds, with more expected on Saturday.
Meanwhile, councils across the country controlled by Labour, the Conservatives and Reform UK are investigating whether they could pursue legal challenges against asylum hotels.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said on Thursday that people had “every right” to protest over asylum hotels in their areas. While the number of asylum seekers rose in Labour’s first year, the new data shows they are still far below the 2023 peak, when the Conservatives were in government.
Labour has pledged to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by the end of this parliament in 2029.
The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, insisted Labour had taken “crucial steps” in the past year towards this by cutting the asylum backlog and money spent on the asylum system, increasing returns of asylum seekers whose applications had failed, and overhauling appeals.
We will update this blog with any news from the protests and counter-protests. Elsewhere, shadow home office minister Katie Lam has been on the morning media round for Conservatives and Labour mayor Oliver Coppard has been speaking to reporters about Speciality Steel, a steelworks that has been taken over by the government in an attempt to save jobs. More on this in a moment.
In other developments:
David Lammy has joined 20 other foreign ministers around the world in condemning Israeli plans to build an illegal settlement on the West Bank, with the Foreign Office summoning the Israeli ambblockador to communicate the government’s displeasure. The foreign secretary co-signed a joint statement on Thursday criticising the so-called E1 plan, a 3,400-home settlement that critics say would divide the West Bank in half.
Protesters at the next mblock demonstration against the ban on Palestine Action will withhold their details from officers to force en-mblocke processing at police stations in an effort to make it “practically impossible” to arrest everyone. On Friday, Defend Our Juries, the pressure group behind the protests, will open sign-ups for its next demonstration to be held in London on 6 September.
Elon Musk’s company, Tesla, should have its application to supply energy to UK homes blocked on national security grounds, Ed Davey has told ministers. The Liberal Democrat leader argued that giving the electric car manufacturer a foothold in the British energy market would be “a gravely concerning move considering Elon Musk’s repeated interference in UK politics”.
