Protesters clash as tensions flare outside asylum hotels

Police and protesters clashed yesterday as demonstrations against asylum hotels unfolded across the country.

- ARCHIE MITCHELL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

Protesters and counterprotesters gathered for demonstrations in towns and cities around England, including Bristol, Exeter, Tamworth, Cannock, Nuneaton, Liverpool, Wakefield, Newcastle, and Horley in Surrey, and at Canary Wharf in central London.

There were also protests at Aberdeen and Perth in Scotland, and Mold in Flintshire, Wales.

Under the Abolish Asylum System banner, anti-migrant protesters draped in union jacks gathered outside hotels and brandished signs calling for them to be emptied. Meanwhile, a series of protests organised by Stand Up to Racism saw counterdemonstrators voice support for migrants in Bristol, Cannock, Leicester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Wakefield, Horley, and Long Eaton in Derbyshire.

In Bristol, mounted police were brought in to separate rival groups in Castle Park, where officers scuffled with protesters.

The demonstrations came amid mounting pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to fulfil Labour's pledge to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers in the UK. The use of asylum hotels has increased in the past year under Labour, with critics warning that they are becoming flashpoints in communities and trapping migrants in limbo.