Real danger is racist outsiders not refugees who live in hotel

I was among the 1,500 people gathered yesterday in Islington to defend the refugees living in the Thistle Barbican hotel in North London from protesters.

- BY DAVID RENTON, BARRISTER, AUTHOR AND ISLINGTON RESIDENT

I'm white and British and the grandchild of refugees - people who had to hide their documents under railway seats as they fled from Hitler.

I talked to other people there. Paul Murphy brought his two choirs, The Mixed Up Chorus and Sing For Freedom. Both have included singers who were refugees staying at this hotel. Paul says he came “to defend refugees, to stop the far right”.

Cathy Bird, a minister for Union Chapel, said: “Britain is a welcoming country. The people who come here are fleeing from wars. In their position, we'd do the same thing.”