Flares have been let off and an arrest made during a demonstration outside a hotel used to accommodate asylum seekers in Canary Wharf yesterday (August 4). Protesters jeered at people going in and out of the Britannia International Hotel, with officers forced to step in when pyrotechnics were let off in the crowd, the Metropolitan Police said.
Some in the group also ‘harassed residents and staff’, attempted to breach the hotel’s fence and tried to stop drivers making deliveries, the force added. Powers were used under the Criminal Justice and Police Act to order this specific few to leave and not return for 28 days, according to a statement issued last night.
The Met clarified it has not banned all protesters from the hotel – only those seen to be causing trouble.
A post on X reads: “We continue to encourage those exercising their lawful right to protest to do so responsibly. Anyone who crosses the line from lawful protest into criminality can expect to face police action.”
Earlier in the day, a man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker after an officer was pushed. Onlookers chanted “shame” towards the police as he was carried away.
Tourists, shoppers and guests at a nearby hotel stopped to take pictures of the demonstration.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police added: “Officers remain in the area to provide reassurance to local residents and businesses, to ensure that any further protest takes place peacefully, and to respond to any incidents.”
It is the latest in a series of demonstrations over the use of hotels to house asylum seekers. On Saturday (August 2), the force made nine arrests after rival groups gathered outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in Islington.
Scotland Yard 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”.
A protest and counter-protest outside the New Bridge Hotel in Newcastle also saw four people arrested on suspicion of public order offences, Northumbria Police said. Elsewhere, Essex Police placed a number of restrictions on a planned protest in Epping on Sunday evening.
The force ordered the demonstration to finish by 8.30pm and must take place in designated areas outside the Bell Hotel, which has been the focus of a series of protests over the last few weeks.
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