Far-right party Homeland aiming to spread asylum hotel protests

Members of a far-right nationalist party are helping to organise protests outside asylum seekers' hotels across the country, according to a series of Facebook posts and groups created in recent weeks.

- Kiran Stacey

Activists for the Homeland party, a splinter organisation from Patriotic Alternative, Britain's biggest far-right group, have set up a number of online groups in a bid to spread the protests that recently engulfed a hotel in Epping.

Their involvement adds to concerns raised by some campaigners that the protests are being infiltrated and bolstered by people with far-right connections. Protests were expected to take place yesterday and over the weekend in 20 different towns and cities across the UK.

The Facebook groups show that Homeland has been active in various spots around the country, including Epping, Wethersfield, Peterborough and Nuneaton.

One group, Nuneaton Says No, is run by five people: Tom King, Jennifer Jardine, Matt Alexander, Adam Clegg and Andrew Piper.

It has been advertising a protest for today under various labels, including "Stop the Boats" and "Women Wear Pink" - a reference to the "Pink Ladies" protests outside the Bell hotel in Epping. In the comments section, one member has posted: "Should've maybe done this on a Friday. You know. When the Council are actually in their offices, as opposed to when it's just an empty building."