[Music]
In the shadow of a hotel housing asylum
seekers indeed, anti-immigration
protesters on one side and
counterprotesters on the other. Group
separated by a road and a fault line
that only feels like it's growing.
There were similar scenes in Portsmouth
and Orington on the outskirts of London
where there were clashes and tension.
That fervor fueled by a major high court
ruling this week stopping the government
from housing asylum seekers at the Bell
Hotel in Eping which has been the scene
of multiple arrests and protests. The
government says it will appeal the
decision. This government will close all
asylum hotels and we will clear up the
mess that we inherited from the previous
government. We've made a commitment that
we will close all of the asylum hotels
by the end of this parliament, but we
need to do that in a managed and ordered
way, and that's why we'll appeal this
decision. And today, more migrants
crossing the channel, adding to the
asylum backlog, the government says it's
doing its best to tackle. Aware of those
optics, the leader of Reform UK, who
weighed in today on the government's
appeal against the court decision in
Eping. Ask yourself a question. Whose
side is this government on? Is it on
your side or is it on the side of young
undocumented males coming into Britain,
too many of whom frankly assault our
young women?
>> This isn't just an issue in the
political arena. It's one on the ground
as well. Here in Leeds, the two sides
are just meters apart. But it feels like
they couldn't be further away. The only
thing they have in common is the fact
that they're both extremely passionate
about their positions on this issue.
>> I couldn't go to the job center tomorrow
and say, "I've got nowhere to live. Can
you put me in a hotel and I want three
meals a day and 70 quid a week? They
wouldn't give me it. I'd have to fend
for myself. But if I came on a boat, I'd
get it all and it's unfair.
>> If they pass the vetting system, they're
allowed here. What's wrong with that? If
they don't pass it, they have to go
home. At the moment, the situation in
Britain is terrifying. Um the prevailing
narrative, the prevailing story is that
the problem in our society is refugees,
the most from the most vulnerable people
in our society. That's from all the
major politicians that's coming out of
the media and that's breeding the kind
of violence that we're seeing outside of
hotels across the country.
There are protests planned this weekend
and in the weeks to come with court
action planned by more councils too.
Meaning this summer of debate and disqu
will only continue. Shingi Marik Sky
News in Leeds.