‘Far right not welcome in Rotherham’ says council leader following hotel protest

Anti-immigration demonstrators gathered at the hotel on February 18, while a counter protest was held by Rotherham Unite Against Fascism, and two arrests were made.

Last year, 130 asylum seekers were moved from the Ibis in Bramley to the Holiday Inn hotel in Manvers, which was met by ‘disappointment and frustration’ from local MP John Healey.

During a full council meeting on March 1, Councillor Chris Read, leader of the council, told the meeting that the ‘far right’ is ‘not welcome’ in the borough.

Coun Read added: “The weekend before last we saw the far right returning to the borough, protesting outside the Holiday Inn at Manvers.

“They’re not welcome here. We don’t wan’t, and our communities do not need, the divisive politics of racial hatred.

“I also want to reiterate to the government that it’s no use having desperate people seeking sanctuary in our country, trapped inside hotels for months on end.

“We need, as a country, to get the asylum system working so people can have confidence in it.”

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick MP has now agreed to a sixth-month review of the Home Office’s decision to use the hotel as accommodation for asylum seekers, alongside an assessment of the Government’s wider asylum accommodation needs.

Officials will undertake the review in April.

Mr Jenrick stated that the Home Office is ‘doing all we can to stop the use of hotels’, including bringing forward the use of alternative accommodation such as surplus military sites.