Across the United Kingdom, a wave of protests and counter-protests erupted on August 23, 2025, as tensions boiled over the government’s continued use of hotels to house asylum seekers. From Bristol and Liverpool to Mold, Perth, and County Antrim, demonstrators—both for and against the policy—faced off in city centers and outside hotels, sparking heated exchanges and a flurry of arrests. The unrest, which authorities say is set to continue with more demonstrations planned, lays bare the deep divisions and anxieties surrounding immigration policy in Britain today.
In Bristol, the scene was tense and chaotic. Police in riot gear, some on horseback, formed a barrier between several hundred anti-racism protesters and dozens of anti-migrant demonstrators in Castle Park. According to BBC and Sky News, the two groups were held apart for almost two hours, with anti-racism campaigners outnumbering their opponents. At times, the crowd surged against police lines, desperate to make their voices heard. Bristol City Council, meanwhile, has stated it has no plans to challenge the government’s use of hotels for asylum seekers in the city.
Liverpool saw similar clashes. More than 400 people, answering the call of UKIP, marched through the city center demanding the deportation of migrants. They were met by a few hundred counter-protesters from Stand Up To Racism and the Merseyside Anti-Fascist Network. Merseyside Police reported 11 arrests for offenses including being drunk and disorderly, assault, and affray. Superintendent Karl Baldwin told The Guardian, “We will never tolerate acts of criminality or anti-social behaviour and despite the vast majority of people protesting lawfully, and peacefully, sadly there were a number of people who were arrested for various offences, including public order offences and assault.”
Protests didn’t stop there. Demonstrations and counter-protests swept through Exeter, Tamworth, Cannock, Nuneaton, Wakefield, Newcastle, and Horley in Surrey. In Mold, Wales, around 300 people protested against plans to house asylum seekers above a local retail unit, while 40 counter-protesters unfurled banners reading “no to racism” and “asylum seekers welcome.” In Perth, Scotland, about 150 protesters gathered outside the Radisson Blu hotel, chanting “get them out,” only to be met by more than 200 counter-protesters declaring “refugees welcome.”
Horley, Surrey, became a flashpoint when around 200 anti-immigration protesters, many draped in St George’s and Union flags, clashed with Stand Up to Racism demonstrators outside the Four Points by Sheraton hotel. Police struggled to keep the groups separated on Bonehurst Road, as anti-racism activists chanted “no hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here,” and some anti-migrant protesters responded with abuse and songs supporting far-right activist Tommy Robinson. The day ended with three arrests in Horley: two for breach of the peace and one for violating a community protection notice. Chief Superintendent Juliet Parker of Surrey Police said, “Unfortunately, while the majority of those present were protesting lawfully, there were some individuals whose behaviour became disruptive, and they were arrested.”
Fueling the anger in Horley was news that Qais Al-Aswad, a man living at the hotel, had been convicted earlier in the week of three counts of sexual assault. He is due to be sentenced in October. This case, along with the high-profile arrest of an asylum seeker at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, on charges of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl, has been cited by protest organizers as evidence of risks associated with housing asylum seekers in hotels. The Epping incident led to a High Court ruling on August 19, granting a temporary injunction to stop the hotel from accommodating asylum seekers, after the local council argued it breached planning controls and posed a public safety risk.
The legal battle is far from over. Several local authorities, controlled by Labour, the Conservatives, and Reform UK, are now considering their own legal challenges to the use of hotels for asylum accommodation. Minister of State for Security Dan Jarvis told broadcasters, “We’ve made a commitment that we will close all of the asylum hotels by the end of this parliament [in 2029], but we need to do that in a managed and ordered way. And that’s why we’ll appeal this decision.” Home Secretary Yvette Cooper echoed the government’s stance, promising a new fast-track asylum appeals process to speed up removals of those with no right to remain. “We inherited an asylum system in complete chaos with a soaring backlog of asylum cases and a broken appeals system with thousands of people in the system for years on end,” Cooper said. “That is why we are taking practical steps to fix the foundations and restore control and order to the system.”
But the government’s critics, including anti-racism campaigners, argue that the protests are being fueled by misinformation, economic inequality, and a housing crisis. Emma Taylor-Beale, a Stand Up to Racism protester in Horley, told the PA news agency, “I’ve got a heart for anyone who’s got a need and our migrant community deserve protection, they deserve dignity, they’ve been through enough.” She added, “This isn’t just the far-right, you can’t label everyone on that side who’s come out as far-right, I think people are buying into lies, they’re angry, they’re hurt and people have got a reason to be angry right now.”
Meanwhile, the far-right Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage, has seized on the unrest to push for even harsher measures. Farage outlined a plan for mass deportations, including arresting arrivals, detaining them on disused military bases, and withdrawing from both the Refugee Convention and the UN Convention on Torture. “We can be nice to people, we can be nice to other countries, or we can be very tough to other countries … I mean [US President Donald] Trump has proved this point quite comprehensively,” Farage told The Times. His party, which won five seats at last year’s general election, has topped recent voting intention polls.
The scale of the challenge is daunting. Home Office data shows that by March 31, 2025, about 32,345 asylum seekers were being temporarily housed in UK hotels—an 8% increase since Labour took office, but down from the 2023 peak. By June 30, a record 111,084 people had applied for asylum in the UK. Since August 2024, more than 50,000 migrants and asylum seekers have crossed the English Channel in small boats, a perilous journey that claimed 73 lives last year alone, according to The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford. Most arrivals come from countries wracked by conflict and instability: Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Albania, Syria, and Eritrea.
As the weekend draws to a close, police across the UK are bracing for more unrest, with fresh protests planned in Birmingham, Dudley, London, Norwich, Stevenage, Manchester, and Epping. The government’s pledge to end the use of asylum hotels remains, but the path forward is fraught with legal, political, and social obstacles. For now, the streets—and the debate—remain as divided as ever.
