Another migrant protest has erupted amid plans to move asylum seekers into a block of flats. Angry locals took to the streets of Waterlooville, Hampshire, after finding out the Home Office planned to relocate 35 migrants to the brand new apartment building.
The local council is said to be in talks with the Home Office about the plans, but locals have branded the idea a “disgrace”. Hundreds of people joined the protest outside the development on Wednesday (July 30). People could be heard chanting “send them home” and waving Union Jack flags.
A protester told the Mail “enough was enough”, pointing to the town’s struggling high street, housing waiting list, unemployment and homelessness. Other protesters raged against migrants being put before local people, according to the same publication.
Reports suggest the protest has been largely peaceful, unlike others in the UK which have seen protesters and police clash, with missiles and fireworks thrown by angry yobs.
George Madgwick, a Portsmouth councillor, said: “This was a family friendly protest in Waterlooville tonight with roughly 1500 in attendance. No thugs, no issues. Great vibes. Singing. Dancing.
“But the very important underlying tone is people have had enough and the Government need to listen. This is now widespread.”
However, a clip circulating on social media shows a moment of tension between pro-migrant protesters and the crowd voicing their fury at the housing plans. In the video, a few protesters appear to go towards the police cordon and the pro-migrant activists, before a man urges the crowd of locals to remain calm and move away from the counter-protesters, saying: “We don’t win, they win by us doing this”.
The Home Office is reportedly going to decide on Friday whether or not to approve the flats for use by asylum seekers.
Local MP, Suella Braverman, has dismissed the proposal as “utterly inappropriate”. The former home secretary set up a petition which is said to have gained more than 9,000 signatures.
In a letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Mrs Braverman said such facilities turned town centres into “no-go zones for the patriotic, common-sense majority”.
Havant Borough Council said on Tuesday that it received Mrs Braverman’s petition and would “do its utmost” to reflect locals’ views in its response to the Home Office.
News of the latest protest comes as the latest Home Office figures show 24,538 people have arrived in the UK on small boats across the Channel.
This is up 47% compared with the same point last year (16,712), and 67% higher than in 2023 (14,732). There has been a record number of crossings for the year so far since data began being collected in 2018.
The Labour Government has pledged to “smash the gangs” which ferry migrants across the Channel. It has also said it will end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by 2029 amid costs spiralling into billions of pounds.