New clashes outside London hotel housing migrants
"Disappointingly we have seen yet another protest, which had begun peacefully, escalate into mindless thuggery with individuals again hurting one of our officers and damaging a police vehicle," Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow said in a statement.
Police vans guarded the entrance to the hotel as several hundred people rallied outside, according to the British news agency PA.
The protestors shouted "save our children" and "send them home", while banners called for the expulsion of "foreign criminals".
Tensions have been simmering for days after a 38-year-old asylum seeker was charged with sexual assault. He allegedly tried to kiss a 14-year-old girl, which he denied when brought to court on Thursday.
On Thursday evening, eight police officers were wounded in clashes.
Anti-immigration riots shook the UK last summer after three girls were stabbed to death by a teenager in the north-western town of Southport, even though the suspect turned out to be British-born.
Rioters had attacked hotels housing asylum seekers in several towns, including an attempt to set fire to an establishment in Rotherham, in north-east England.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
6 hours ago
- France 24
Hundreds demonstrate in protest-hit UK town
It was the latest in a series of demonstrations in Epping, northeast of London, after an asylum seeker was charged earlier in July with three counts of sexual assault, including allegedly attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl. But only about 400 people from rival groups demonstrated in the town, as police put in place a tight security operation, erecting barricades to keep them apart and banning the wearing of masks. Essex police said they had "a robust policing operation in place to protect our community and to deal swiftly with anyone intent on causing crime or violent disorder". Protestors gathered outside the Bell Hotel in the town, which has been used to house asylum seekers and refugees, despite pleas from the local council to close it down. "They're a threat. They don't know who they are, who they're allowing in these hotels, and basically they're putting everybody at danger", one protester, who identified herself only as Cathy, told AFP. There was also a counter-protest by the organisation Stand Up To Racism, who chanted "refugees are welcome here' and "Whose streets? Our streets". Three people were arrested Sunday but the protest went off "peacefully," Essex police said in a statement. The issue of thousands of irregular migrants arriving in small boats across the Channel, coupled with the UK's worsening economy, has triggered rising anger among some Britons. Such sentiments have been amplified by inflammatory messaging on social networks, fuelled by far-right activists. Almost exactly a year ago on July 29, 2024, three young girls were stabbed to death in a frenzied attack in northwestern Southport. Nearly 24,000 migrants have made the perilous journey across the Channel so far in 2025, the highest-ever tally at this point in a year. © 2025 AFP
France 24
3 days ago
- France 24
UK starts online checks to stop children accessing harmful content
Under the new rules, to be enforced by Britain's media watchdog, websites and apps hosting potentially harmful content will be held responsible for age checks using measures such as facial imagery and credit cards. Around 6,000 pornography sites have agreed to implement the curbs, according to Melanie Dawes, chief executive of British regulator Ofcom. Other platforms such as X, which is facing a dispute over similar restrictions in Ireland, must also protect children from illegal pornographic, hateful and violent content, she noted. "We've done the work that no other regulator has done," Dawes told BBC Radio. "These systems can work. We've researched that," she said. Around 500,000 youngsters aged eight to 14 encountered pornography online last month, according to Ofcom. The long-awaited new rules, which aim to prevent minors from encountering content relating to suicide, self-harm, eating disorders as well as porn, stem from a 2023 Online Safety Act. It imposes legal responsibilities on tech companies to better safeguard children and adults online and mandates sanctions for those who fall short. Rule-breakers face fines of up to £18 million ($23 million) or 10 percent of their worldwide revenue, "whichever is greater", according to the government. Criminal action can also be taken against senior managers who fail to ensure companies follow Ofcom information requests. The measures are coming into force now after the sector and the regulator were given time to prepare. 'Different internet' Children will "experience a different internet for the first time," technology secretary Peter Kyle told Sky News, adding he had "very high expectations" for the changes. In an interview with parenting forum Mumsnet, he also said sorry to youngsters who had been exposed to harmful content. "I want to apologise to any kid who's over 13 who has not had any of these protections," Kyle said. Rani Govender, of the child protection charity NSPCC, said it was "a really important milestone that we're finally seeing tech companies having to take responsibility for making their services safe for children". Children are frequently "stumbling across this harmful and dangerous content," she told BBC News. "There will be loopholes," Govender noted, insisting it was still "right that we're introducing much stronger rules to make sure that that can't continue to happen". Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government is also considering introducing a daily two-hour limit for children on social media apps. Kyle said he would announce more plans for regulating the sector for under-16s "in the near future".
France 24
3 days ago
- France 24
UK fears new summer of unrest, year after Southport riots
Police have arrested 16 people since protests flared last week outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in the town of Epping, northeast of London. In one demonstration, eight police officers were injured. The unrest was "not just a troubling one-off", said the chairwoman of the Police Federation, Tiff Lynch. "It was a signal flare. A reminder of how little it takes for tensions to erupt and how ill-prepared we remain to deal with it," she wrote in the Daily Telegraph. Protestors shouted "save our children" and "send them home", while banners called for the expulsion of "foreign criminals". Cabinet minister Jonathan Reynolds on Thursday urged people not to speculate or exaggerate the situation, saying "the government, all the key agencies, the police, they prepare for all situations. "I understand the frustrations people have," he told Sky News. The government was trying to fix the problem and that the number of hotels occupied by asylum seekers had dropped from 400 to 200, he added. The issue of thousands of irregular migrants arriving in small boats across the Channel, coupled with the UK's worsening economy, has triggered rising anger among some Britons. Such sentiments have been amplified by inflammatory messaging on social networks, fuelled by far-right activists. Almost exactly a year ago on July 29, 2024, three young girls were stabbed to death in a frenzied attack in northwestern Southport. The shocking killings stoked days of riots across the country after false reports that the killer -- a UK-born teenager whose family came to the country from Rwanda after the 1994 genocide -- was a migrant. Nearly 24,000 migrants have made the perilous journey across the Channel so far in 2025, the highest-ever tally at this point in a year. The issue has become politically perilous, putting pressure on Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer's centre-left government, as the anti-immigrant, far-right Reform UK party rises in the polls. 'More unrest likely' The Epping protests were stirred after a 38-year-old asylum seeker, who only arrived in Britain in late June, was arrested and charged with three counts of sexual assault. Images from the protests have gone viral on social networks, mirroring what happened last July. But Epping residents have maintained that the protests are being fuelled by people from outside the community. "These violent scenes ... are not Epping, and they are not what we stand for," the Conservative MP for Epping, Neil Hudson, told parliament Monday. While calm was restored to Epping, a middle-class suburban town with a population of 12,000, tensions remain palpable. "This is the first time something like this has happened," one local who lives close to the Bell Hotel told AFP, asking not to be named. "The issue is not the hotel, but extremists applying a political ideology," he added. Late on Thursday, the hotel, cordoned off behind barriers, was again the centre of a protest involving dozens of people, with police making one arrest. With another protest expected on Sunday, the local council voted through a motion to demand the government no longer house asylum seekers at the hotel. The UK is "likely to see more racist riots take place this summer", said Aurelien Mondon, politics professor and expert on far-right and reactionary discourse at Bath University. Anti-immigrant protests have already erupted elsewhere, with demonstrations in the southeastern town of Diss in Norfolk outside a similar hotel on Monday. Last month, clashes flared for several days in the town of Ballymena in Northern Ireland after two teenagers with Romanian roots were arrested for the alleged attempted rape of a young girl. 'Civil disobedience' "It is well documented that many of the protests we are witnessing are not the result of grassroots, local movements," Mondon said. "Social media plays a role and facilitates coordination amongst extreme-right groups," but it is "also crucial not to exaggerate" its power, he added. High-profile far-right activist Tommy Robinson, who was blamed for stoking the Southport unrest, announced he would be in Epping on Sunday, before later seeming to scrap the plan. The firebrand anti-Islam campaigner has just been freed from jail after spreading fake news about a Syrian immigrant, but faces trial on a separate issue in 2026. "I don't think anybody in London even understands just how close we are to civil disobedience on a vast scale," said Reform leader Nigel Farage.
