MOTHERS and children dressed in pink protested outside Britain’s most controversial migrant hotel yesterday — before masked yobs hijacked the event and clashed with police.
Demonstrators chanting “Save our kids and women” shut down a busy road outside the four-star Britannia International Hotel in Canary Wharf, East London.
They were among 200 anti-migrant marchers waving flags, including a giant St George’s Cross, and calling for an end to small boat crossings.
Last night, the Met Police issued a Section 42 dispersal order, in effect banning protests outside the hotel for 28 days.
Videos online showed officers removing protesters after hotel residents claimed they faced “distress and alarm” from demonstrators outside.
One officer told a protester: “You have to leave now and you’re not to return within 28 days.
“If you don’t comply with that, you will be arrested.”
Earlier, women had performed a conga while a line of police guarded the 40 or so asylum seekers who were moved in under cover of darkness at 1.30am on Saturday.
But the protest threatened to boil over shortly after 3pm when two men in balaclava masks threw red and white smoke flares.
The pair were held and searched by police but released back into the crowds.
Other masked thugs then stormed into the crowd, setting off flares.
Yobs disguising their identities were surrounded by police as the women and children in pink dispersed.
Skirmishes broke out between officers and the masked demonstrators, all dressed in black, with at least one man led away in cuffs.
After being held back from female protesters, the crowd of about 25 flare-wielding yobs instead charged towards metal fences set up around the perimeter of the hotel .
They then began to chant: “Let us through.”
Protester Kim, 60, a resident of the area and part of the mothers’ gathering, branded the violence disgraceful.
She said: “It ruined the atmosphere. I don’t want to see that and I don’t want my kids to see it either.
“If that was one of my children I would be embarrassed. This was meant to be a peaceful protest for women and children.”
We’re concerned for our women and children. We don’t know who these people are, what beliefs they hold and if they have a criminal background elsewhere. Our women and children do not feel safe, and that’s why we don’t want them here
Sun source
The £425-a-night, 500-room hotel — said to have “superb views over London” — was designated for asylum seekers two weeks ago.
It meant tourists turning up with pre-existing bookings were turned away at the entrance by Home Office -contracted security guards.
Yesterday, more footage went viral showing delivery motorbike drivers attempting to leave the hotel and being surrounded by protesters.
It is thought the deliveries were for hotel staff and residents.
Re-posting footage of the hotel yesterday, Tory MP and Shadow Cabinet minister Neil O’Brien blasted: “Joke regime. We must end it all.”
One mother at the protest told The Sun: “We’re concerned for our women and children. We don’t know who these people are, what beliefs they hold and if they have a criminal background elsewhere. Our women and children do not feel safe, and that’s why we don’t want them here.”
Local resident Jen, 28, told The Sun: “I don’t mind the fact they’re immigrants, I am one myself.
“Everybody has their reasons to move but we’re not happy with how we weren’t informed.”
A Met Police spokeswoman said: “Officers are deployed in the vicinity of the Britannia International Hotel in Canary Wharf.
“At one point, officers intervened after flares were let off in the crowd.
“Several people were searched. No further flares were found and there were no arrests.
“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.”
But the use of the flash financial district hotel, one of about 210 in use for asylum, was previously branded an “insult” to taxpayers.
The total asylum hotel bill is more than £3billion a year.
Home Office officials have rented 400 rooms at the Britannia for £81-a-night, meaning the Canary Wharf bill alone will cost up to £226,000 a week.
It was first reported at the end of July that the luxury four-star hotel — said to be “the perfect base for a city break” — would be used to house migrants.
Last week, workers were seen hauling beds and mattresses into the hotel for the arrival of hundreds of asylum seekers .
Footage shared online caught all-male asylum seekers , most dressed in grey tracksuits, getting off a coach in the dark on Saturday.
‘Insult’ to taxpayers
The first arrivals were led into the hotel to be given rooms. They were aided by the masked security guards.
A Met Police spokeswoman confirmed at least one arrest was made outside the hotel.
She said: “One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker after an officer was pushed. He was taken into custody.”
Nationwide protests on Saturday led to nine arrests. Residents in Islington, North London , gathered at the Thistle City Barbican hotel under the banner, “Thistle Barbican needs to go — locals say no”.
A rival group from Stand Up To Racism, supported by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn , formed a counter-protest.
Seven arrests were made related to breaching Public Order Act conditions. From inside the hotel, men, believed to be migrants, blew kisses.
On Friday night, a man was arrested on suspicion of attempted arson after a packet of lit firelighters was thrown at police at the Stanwell Hotel, Spelthorne, Surrey.
National protests were sparked after Hadush Kebatu, 38, an Ethiopian asylum seeker at the Bell Hotel, in Epping, Essex, was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old, which he denies.
