Hundreds protest outside Falkirk ‘asylum hotel’
Exchanges quickly became tense as both sides of the demonstration engaged in personal abuse and hurled threats in Falkirk.
Hundreds of pro and anti-immigration protesters gathered outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Falkirk on Saturday.
It is the second large-scale demonstration this month outside the town’s former Cladhan Hotel, which is now being used by the Home Office to house asylum seekers.
Protesters, numbering several hundred on each side, were separated by lines of police officers and metal railings.
Protesters in the anti-immigration crowd held signs saying "stop the boats'"and "enough is enough", while counter demonstrators chanted "refugees are welcome here".
Two separate anti-immigration protests were called by Save Our Future and Our Kids Futures group on Saturday amid concerns over alleged crimes linked to those housed at the Cladhan Hotel.
READ MORE: Why Scotland must engage asylum seekers
The first saw hundreds gather outside the office of Labour MP Euan Stainbank, where speeches were made, and people took aim at the UK Government, the police and journalists who were covering the protest.
More than 200 later assembled outside the nearby Cladhan Hotel, which is believed to house asylum seekers waiting for their claims to be processed.
The group, which was bolstered by a steady stream of people coming from the previous demonstration, was met by about 200 counter-protesters from the trade union movement and the campaign group Stand Up To Racism.
Exchanges quickly became tense, as both sides engaged in personal abuse and threats were hurled.
Police separated both sides behind barriers, with the counter protesters held in what appeared to be a car park for the hotel and the protesters contained on the opposite pavement.
The protest is the second in as many weeks outside the Cladhan Hotel.
Another took place outside a facility in Perth last week as tensions rise in Scotland at the housing of asylum seekers in hotels.
On Monday, polling suggested concerns over immigration were in the top three issues of concern for Scots.
Earlier this month, demonstrations and counter-protests were held outside hotels housing asylum seekers in Perth, with a protest staged outside a hotel in Aberdeen yesterday (Saturday).
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage used an appearance in Scotland to say he thought immigration would become a wider issue north of the border ahead of the Holyrood election next year.
Meanwhile, a group of councils in England is reportedly pressing ahad with separate legal challenges aimed at ending the use of hotels to accommodate migrants,
It comes after the UK Government won a court challenge, which means asylum seekers can continue to be housed at an Essex hotel.
On Friday, the Court of Appeal overturned Epping Forest District Council’s interim injunction, which would have prevented the Bell Hotel Epping, from being used as an asylum hotel.
Some 138 asylum seekers would no longer have been able to be housed there beyond September 12 under the injunction.
But the Home Office and Somani Hotelswhich owns the Bell Hotel, challenged the High Court ruling.
Three appeal judges described the previous judgment as “seriously flawed in principle” and said the hotel could continue to be used to house migrants.
The High Court’s original ruling followed weeks of protests in Essex after an asylum seeker housed at the Bell Hotel was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl last month. He has denied the charges.
A group calling themselves the Great British National Protest said they would hold demonstrations on Saturday and for every “foreseeable” Saturday, including outside the Home Office in Westminster.
At least 13 other councils are considering pressing ahead with legal action over the use of asylum hotels in their areas, according to reports. Among them are several Labour-run authorities, it has been claimed.
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