A protester holds a flag reading, 'Stop The Boats', during an anti-immigration protest outside the Sheraton Four Points hotel, believed to be housing asylum seekers, in Horley, south of London, on August 23rd 2025(Ben Stansall - AFP)
Anti-immigration protests persisted across the United Kingdom over the weekend, centered on hotels used to house asylum seekers and unfolding in multiple towns and cities, including Epping, Bristol, Birmingham, Liverpool, Horley, Aberdeen, and others. Police deployed to keep rival groups apart as counter-demonstrators gathered under Stand Up to Racism banners. The renewed activity followed a week in which immigration again polled as the public’s top concern and hotel use remained a visible flashpoint. In Epping, protesters returned after a High Court ruling ordered asylum seekers removed from a local hotel, while the government said it would appeal.