British life-style: Migrant protests descend into anarchy

Mounted police officers scuffle with demonstrators during a protest by Abolish Asylum System and counter protesters at Castle Park in Bristol.

Migrant protests descended into anarchy as at least 15 people were arrested at demonstrations taking place across the country over asylum seeker hotels, ‘The Daily Mail’ reports.

Today more than 30 protests under the Abolish Asylum System slogan were held in towns and cities including Bristol, Exeter, Tamworth, Cannock, Nuneaton, Liverpool, Wakefield, Newcastle, Horley, Canary Wharf, Aberdeen and Perth in Scotland, and Mold in Wales.

A separate batch of protests were organised by Stand Up to Racism in Bristol, Cannock, Leicester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Wakefield, Horley and Long Eaton in Derbyshire.

Several demonstrators have been seen scuffling with police and shouting at the opposing side as chaos unfolds across the country.

At least 15 people were reportedly arrested in Bristol, Liverpool and Horley, The Times reported.

In Bristol, mounted police were brought in to separate rival groups in Castle Park, with one of those detained today said to be a 37-year-old woman on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker.

Anti-migrant campaigners are set to gather at more than 30 protests across the UK this weekend to express anger outside hotels housing asylum seekers.

In Liverpool, where crowds of UK Independence Party (UKIP) supporters and anti-fascist demonstrators gathered in the city centre for a 'Liverpool mass deportations' march', at least 11 people have been arrested.

In an update put out on its social media, UKIP said its plan was to 'reclaim Liverpool from the far-left and send a message to the government'.

Around 100 anti-immigration protesters draped in St George and Union flags clashed with roughly 30 Stand Up to Racism protesters in Bonehurst Road.

The anti-racism protesters chanted 'say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here', and held signs calling for solidarity and to 'stop deportations'.

A man wearing a St George's flag tucked in behind his backpack was caught on camera scuffling with an anti-fascist supporter in Liverpool.

They were met with a torrent of abuse from the anti-migration group, one of whom yelled through a megaphone 'you're all scum and you should be ashamed' and 'this wasn't about racism'.

The two groups almost came together in the early afternoon, with lines of police separating them.

The Stand Up to Racism protesters were shepherded into a smaller area as they continued to chant 'no hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here', which were met with 'no they're f****** not' from the other side of the street.

On Tuesday, the High Court granted Epping Forest District Council a temporary injunction to remove asylum seekers from the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, from September 12.

Regular protests had been held outside the hotel in recent weeks after an asylum seeker was charged with trying to kiss a 14-year-old girl.

Other local councils also publicly announced their intention to seek legal advice as to whether they could achieve a similar injunction for hotels in their areas.

Reform UK's Nigel Farage has set out plans for mass deportations if he becomes prime minister.

Arresting asylum seekers on arrival, automatic detention and forced deportation to countries such as Afghanistan and Eritrea are among the proposals reported to be announced on Tuesday.

They also include deals with third countries, which could include reviving the Conservatives' Rwanda link-up, and sending asylum seekers to British overseas territories such as Ascension Island as a 'fallback' option.

Mr Farage said the plans could see hundreds of thousands of people deported and five charter flights taking off from the UK every day.

On Saturday morning protesters began to gather outside a hotel in Perth, and were greeted with counter-protesters.

The first step of Reform UK's plans would be to leave the European Convention on Human Rights and to scrap the Human Rights Act, followed by legislation to bar those who come to the UK on small boats from claiming asylum.

'The aim of this legislation is mass deportations,' Clacton MP Mr Farage told The Times.

'We have a massive crisis in Britain. It is not only posing a national security threat but it's leading to public anger that frankly is not very far away from disorder.

'There is only one way to stop people coming into Britain and that is to detain them and deport them.'

Anti-migrant protesters gather outside the Sheraton Four Points Hotel in Horley, Surrey.

Tamworth Council has said it would look to challenge the use of the Holiday Inn Express in town, which was a focus of violent disorder during the Southport riots last summer.

In a statement, it said: 'The situation at Epping Forest represents a potentially important legal precedent, and we are carefully assessing what this might mean for our circumstances here in Tamworth.'

In Newcastle, demonstrators have gathered outside the New Bridge Hotel.

Newcastle City Council has been in active talks with the Home Office this month to end the use of a city hotel to house asylum seekers, with Newcastle Labour leader Karen Kilgour having called for it to be closed down.

Yvette Cooper has warned the asylum system would be plunged into 'chaos' if migrant hotels were forced to close as a result of 'piecemeal court decisions' by councils bringing copycat litigation.

Labour has said it plans to end the use of asylum hotels, but that this must be done in an orderly fashion.

Meanwhile, police forces were braced for a wave of protests at hotels across the country this weekend as communities seek to replicate the results of Tuesday's High Court ruling.

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