
Asylum hotel protest to see ‘increased police presence'
A protest and counter protest will also take place in Newcastle outside The New Bridge Hotel on Saturday.
The Metropolitan Police said the protest against the use of the Islington hotel was organised by local residents under the banner 'Thistle Barbican needs to go – locals say no'.
A counter protest, organised by Stand Up To Racism and supported by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, as well as other groups including Finsbury Park Mosque and Islington Labour Party, will also take place.
Police said the anti-asylum hotel protest had been 'endorsed by groups from outside the local community which is likely to increase the number of people attending'.
Online groups that have voiced support for the protest include 'Patriots of Britain' and 'Together for the Children'.
The Metropolitan Police said plans were in place to 'respond to any protest activity in the vicinity of other hotels in London being used to accommodate asylum seekers'.
Conditions on the anti-asylum hotel protest include that anyone participating must remain within King Charles Square and that the assembly must not begin before 1pm and must conclude by 4pm.
Police said conditions on the counter protest include that participants must remain in Lever Street, near the junction with Central Street, and that the assembly must not begin before 12pm and must conclude by 4pm.
Chief Superintendent Clair Haynes, in charge of the policing operation, said: 'We have been in discussions with the organisers of both protests in recent days, building on the ongoing engagement between local officers, community groups and partners.
'We understand that there are strongly held views on all sides.
'Our officers will police without fear or favour, ensuring those exercising their right to protest can do so safely but intervening at the first sign of actions that cross the line into criminality.
'We have used our powers under the Public Order Act to put conditions in place to prevent serious disorder and to minimise serious disruption to the lives of people and businesses in the local community.
'Those conditions identify two distinct protest areas where the protests must take place, meaning the groups will be separated but still within sight and sound of each other.'
There are also posts online advertising a 'for our children, for our future' protest in Newcastle on Saturday outside The New Bridge Hotel.
A 'stop the far right and fascists in Newcastle' counter protest has been organised by Stand Up To Racism at the nearby Laing Art Gallery.
In a statement, the organisers of the counter protest said: 'Yet again far-right and fascist thugs are intent on bringing their message of hate to Newcastle. They aim to build on years of Islamophobia, anti-migrant sentiment and scapegoating.
'In Epping and elsewhere recently we have already seen intimidation and violence aimed at refugees, migrants and asylum seekers.
'Newcastle, like the rest of the North East, has a well-earned reputation for unity in the face of those who seek to divide us. Whatever problems we face, racism and division are not the answer.'
Northumbria Police have been approached for comment.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Sun
20 minutes ago
- The Sun
Starmer's gesture politics on Palestine and why a vote for Corbyn's new party will put Nigel Farage in Downing Street
JEREMY Corbyn's party hasn't even launched yet and it is already calling the shots with this government – starting with the recognition of Palestine. Keir Starmer is terrified Jeremy and his band of pro-Gaza MPs will hoover up the Muslim vote and cost Labour the next election. 6 6 So in a jaw-dropping speech on Tuesday, he announced the UK will recognise an independent state of Palestine unless Israel signs up to a ceasefire and long-term peace process. It was an astonishing change in position from Keir, who just days earlier dismissed the stance as gesture politics. So what changed? The grim facts on the ground in the Middle East remained the same. Hamas is still refusing to release the Israeli hostages kidnapped on October 7 and held in cold, dank tunnels buried deep underneath Gaza. They have been there for more than 660 days. Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu still shows no signs of being willing to accept a two-state solution. And innocent civilians in Gaza are paying the price for Hamas' reign of terror. Appalling images of starving children desperately queuing for food have haunted our TV screens and newspaper pages. The only thing that has changed is the news Corbyn is launching a new party to challenge Labour. No10 denies Keir is tearing up 75 years of foreign policy because he is running scared of Jezza. Moved by appalling images of emaciated children, he is launching a last-ditch bid to get Netanyahu to re-engage with the peace process, they say. But recognising the state of Palestine will not put food into the belly of a single hungry child in Gaza. It will not release a single hostage snatched by Hamas as they slept in their beds or danced at a music festival. And it will not bring the Middle East a single step closer to peace. It is the very essence of gesture politics Keir Starmer claims to despise. Biggest danger There is no doubt the new Corbyn party poses a massive challenge for Keir. They plan to target seats with big Muslim populations. There are fears inside Labour that 'London could fall'. Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner are being targeted. Zarah Sultana — a former Labour MP who has switched to Corbyn's party — will run against Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood in Birmingham Ladywood. The loss of all three of these Cabinet big beasts would be a catastrophe for Labour. Sources close to Jeremy say the party could win around ten seats at the next election. Others reckon the number could be higher — more like 20. But the biggest danger to Labour is not the number of seats the party takes, but the number of votes. Pollsters More In Common say the new party could get ten per cent of the vote, mainly from current Labour and Green supporters. By nibbling at Labour's vote, Corbyn and his crew could hand Nigel Farage's Reform Party a seven-point lead — and a majority in Parliament. So vote Jeremy, get Nigel Farage in No10. Labour Party chiefs are expected to hammer this attack line on a Corbyn-led party. Keir Starmer was also under huge pressure from his own party and base to recognise Palestine. Over 100 Labour MPs had signed a letter demanding he do it. A large chunk of the Cabinet had urged him to do the same. But Keir has spent years painting himself as morally upright and principled standing loftily above the self-interest that motivates others. Now the Prime Minister looks like he is recognising Palestine to save his own political skin. As one party insider put it: 'Keir used to say country first, party second. Where does this decision leave that?' How Ozzy helped Jacob to rock up on reality TV AT first glance Jacob Rees-Mogg and Ozzy Osbourne do not have much in common. One is a pinstripe-suit-wearing former Tory MP best known for his love of Brexit and devout Catholicism. 6 The other was a heavy metal wildman famous for biting the head off a bat on stage and being so desperate for drugs he once snorted a line of ants off the roadside. So it was a bit surprising to see the Moggster dedicate a whole section of his GB News show to tributes to the late, great Prince of Darkness. But Jacob actually owes much of his success to Ozzy. The Osbournes was the original family reality TV show – featuring Ozzy, wife Sharon and children Kelly and Jack. Their lives were slightly bonkers, very loving – and made for intoxicating viewing. Twenty years later, Jacob followed in Ozzy's footsteps with Meet The Rees-Moggs, a reality TV show about his equally eccentric and loving family. Paying tribute to the Brummie rocker on telly, Mogg hailed him as 'a charismatic figure who had great charm and was at the top of his field'. He added: 'We will pray for his soul.' Judging by the rocker's hell-raising antics, I reckon that will take quite a few Hail Marys, Jacob. CUT OFF PHONE THEFTS STRICTLY dancer Michelle Tsiakkas has become the latest victim of mobile phone thieves to go public. The ballroom dancer was walking through London's Covent Garden in June when a thug on an e-bike snatched her phone. 6 When will this criminal scourge end? As a Londoner, I'm appalled to see how muggers are terrorising the capital on their green e-bikes. A phone is stolen in London every six minutes. That is a shameful statistic. When victims call the police they are just fobbed off and told officers are too busy to investigate – even when the phone has a tracker on it. Within days these mobiles are sold on by criminal gangs and end up around the world in places like China. Enough is enough. Police must take a zero-tolerance approach to these phone snatchers. I don't mind the rental e-bikes which have popped up all over the capital. But they are too easy for thugs to fiddle so they can ride them without paying – and to carry out their muggings. These businesses must step up and improve security. And if London Mayor Sadiq Khan wants a legacy he should hurry up and clean up the streets of our capital. Or his time in City Hall will go down in history as one of failure. MENUS JABBED HESTON BLUMENTHAL has revealed he is on the fat jab, and he's not the only one. The celebrity chef says so many Brits are on Ozempic and Wegovy it risks wrecking the restaurant trade. The days of charging diners through the nose for giant tasting menus might be over, he warns. It costs £395 per person to tuck into the 11-course tasting menu at Blumenthal's own restaurant, The Fat Duck. Looks like the fat jab will shrink Heston's bank balance as well as his waistline. POPE'S BLACK MAGIC Pope Leo XIV is said to have toasted St Patrick's Day this year with a pint of the black stuff. 6 Perhaps the pontiff's love of Irish stout should come as no surprise. He is a Yank after all – and they are known to be huge fans of the Irish tipple. We were always big fans of Guinness in my family. My grandad, Jim O'Sullivan (no awards for guessing where he came from), swore by the medicinal qualities of a pint of Guinness. Whenever me or my brother were feeling sick when we were kids he would suggest taking a long glug of Guinness. It is packed full of iron and would get our strength up, he said in his thick Cork accent. It sounds like The Pope agrees. Drinking Guinness is God for you! The mega-rich Brits are said to be part of a consortium trying to take over the controversial porn site. The property tycoons are considering pumping hundreds of millions of pounds in the project. Well, no one ever became poor overestimating our interest in sex. CHEAP AS LIPS CLOBBERED by the cost-of-living crisis, us girls are turning to small treats like lipstick to give ourselves a little lift. Britain's 'prestige lip market' has grown by 16 per cent in the past six months, according to the market research company Circana. I never leave my flat without a full face of make-up. But last time I bought a lippy it set me back £30, which isn't exactly cheap as chips. Although I guess it's cheaper than a week in Marbella.


The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Chancellor: Public will reject Corbyn's new party like they rejected him before
The public will reject Jeremy Corbyn's new party like they rejected him twice before, Rachel Reeves has predicted. The Chancellor launched an attack on the former Labour leader personally as well as his new party, saying 'the bloke's got a big ego'. Ms Reeves told an audience at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival that Mr Corbyn had 'tried to destroy my party' during his leadership in which he lost two general elections, one in 2017 and one in 2019. She was asked about the left-wing party during an appearance on the Iain Dale All Talk show on Saturday. Mr Corbyn launched the new political party with former Labour MP Zarah Sultana, which still does not appear to have a name but is marketed as 'Your Party'. Mr Corbyn vowed it would 'take on the rich and powerful'. Asked about whether the new party could eat into Labour's support by becoming a 'Reform of the left', the Chancellor said: ' Jeremy Corbyn has had two chances to be prime minister and I think the country gave their verdict, most recently in 2019 when Labour had its worst result since 1935. 'If he wants to give it another go, be my guest. I think the voters will have the same reaction.' Asked by Mr Dale if Labour was being complacent about the new political group, she said: 'It's not being complacent. He tried to destroy my party and he can now go set up his own party. 'The country has rejected him twice. The bloke's got a big ego. He can have another go but I think the country will have the same verdict.' The Chancellor's comments saw some of the biggest cheers of her chat with Mr Dale, which lasted around one and a half hours. Mr Corbyn has said that more than 500,000 people had signed up to the movement in less than a week. The figure was dismissed by Ms Reeves who told the crowd in Edinburgh that her sister Ellie Reeves, a serving Labour MP, had received an email stating she had signed up to the party. Speaking at the same event, the Chancellor said Reform UK was now Labour's main rival, describing the Tories as 'irrelevant'. But she warned that Nigel Farage offered 'simple solutions' that amounted to a 'mirage'. Mr Corbyn has been approached for comment.


The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Rachel Reeves launches scathing attack on Jeremy Corbyn and Your Party: ‘The bloke's got a big ego'
The public will reject Jeremy Corbyn's new party like they rejected him twice before, Rachel Reeves has predicted. The Chancellor launched an attack on the former Labour leader personally as well as his new party, saying 'the bloke's got a big ego'. Ms Reeves told an audience at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival that Mr Corbyn had 'tried to destroy my party' during his leadership in which he lost two general elections, one in 2017 and one in 2019. She was asked about the left-wing party during an appearance on the Iain Dale All Talk show on Saturday. Mr Corbyn launched the new political party with former Labour MP Zarah Sultana, which still does not appear to have a name but is marketed as 'Your Party'. Mr Corbyn vowed it would 'take on the rich and powerful'. Asked about whether the new party could eat into Labour's support by becoming a 'Reform of the left', the Chancellor said: ' Jeremy Corbyn has had two chances to be prime minister and I think the country gave their verdict, most recently in 2019 when Labour had its worst result since 1935. 'If he wants to give it another go, be my guest. I think the voters will have the same reaction.' Asked by Mr Dale if Labour was being complacent about the new political group, she said: 'It's not being complacent. He tried to destroy my party and he can now go set up his own party. 'The country has rejected him twice. The bloke's got a big ego. He can have another go but I think the country will have the same verdict.' The Chancellor's comments saw some of the biggest cheers of her chat with Mr Dale, which lasted around one and a half hours. Mr Corbyn has said that more than 500,000 people had signed up to the movement in less than a week. The figure was dismissed by Ms Reeves who told the crowd in Edinburgh that her sister Ellie Reeves, a serving Labour MP, had received an email stating she had signed up to the party. Speaking at the same event, the Chancellor said Reform UK was now Labour's main rival, describing the Tories as 'irrelevant'. But she warned that Nigel Farage offered 'simple solutions' that amounted to a 'mirage'. Mr Corbyn has been approached for comment.