"After witnessing asylum seeker hotel protests in Newcastle-upon-Tyne last year, the challenge facing progressive politics is urgent and unavoidable."
Jemima Elliott
The sweeping emergence of the Union flag everywhere from Rotherham to Romford was the most visceral symbol that anti-migrant rhetoric had become a permanent feature of British public life in 2025. The same conversations repeated themselves: small boats, borders, and who really counts as ‘British’. These debates didn’t emerge in a vacuum, but the product of years of political scapegoating; shaped by Brexit, deepening inequality, a brutal cost-of-living crisis, and the unresolved social fallout of the covid lockdowns.
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Last summer, this atmosphere tipped into something more overt. Anti-migrant protests began appearing regularly outside hotels housing people seeking asylum, and they show no signs of stopping as we move into 2026. I attended counter-demonstrations in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where I saw first-hand not only the behaviour of the far-right, but the stark double standard in how police treat racist agitators versus those opposing them. As local elections approach, and the idea of a Reform government no longer feels implausible, these protests force urgent questions. What do they tell us about Britain today, and about the strengths and limits of our progressive movements? And how do we confront the far-right before they shape the decade to come?
Since August last year, the far-right have gathered every Saturday to protest outside of The Newbridge Hotel in central Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which is being used by the Home Office to house people seeking asylum in the UK.
Groups such as Raise the Colours, Pink Ladies, and The Flag Men of South Shields have organised these protests, leading with chants including ‘Deport! Deport!’ and ‘Shove your Palestine up your a*se.’ These far-right groups have been met by anti-fascist counter protestors, blocking their way to the hotel. In September these groups were joined by a larger contingent from UKIP and other far-right groups as Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, founder of English Defense League and former member of the British National Party), Ben Habib (leader of Advance UK and former deputy leader of Reform UK) and Nick Tenconi (UKIP leader) launched their new party Advance UK in the city. They planned to march from the quayside to the Newbridge Hotel.
There have been multiple reports of numbers on both sides but as someone who was there, the difference was remarkable. There couldn’t have been more than 200 fascists siding with the likes of Robinson, whereas there were over 1,000 people on the opposing side, with some estimates of 2,000-3,000. The street, including the road, was packed full of Geordies standing against racists and far-right ideology. You could hardly move. Since then numbers on both sides have dwindled at the weekly protests outside the hotel, but as this march was promised to be a show of ‘British’ might by Robinson and his collaborators, the city firmly rejected them.
Despite this show of unity against the far-right, the residents of The Newbridge Hotel continue to be harassed, intimidated and threatened where they live each week. They are being touted as rapists, paedophiles, and violent criminals by these racist protestors, simply because they are not white and are seeking a safe life.
Nazi symbolism and gestures have been present at these protests since the first one was held in August. Nazi salutes have been carried out by those protesting at the hotel on several occasions, each by different people, and each clearly in front of Northumbria Police officers. In October one of the protestors later identified as Louis Perez Perez, who was previously convicted of stalking a family including a 17-year-old girl, wore a t-shirt emblazoned with a Totenkopf – a symbol closely associated with the Nazi SS. On a later occasion, Perez was also seen waving an Israel flag. There were also reports of chants of ‘Auschwitz! Auschwitz!’ outside The Newbridge Hotel during the march organised by UKIP and Tommy Robinson in September. The far-right protestors have made several attempts to get to the hotel and have made threatening gestures towards counter protestors.
There have been arrests of members of the far-right at these protests, but they have been the result of in-fighting turned physical fighting rather than anything to do with pushing blatantly Nazi symbolism towards already marginalised people.
In Germany, Austria and Slovakia, performing a Nazi salute is a criminal offence. In many other countries, including the UK, there are more conditions that apply to when it becomes illegal. In the UK, performing a Nazi salute or owning Nazi paraphernalia are not in themselves a criminal offence. However, they become an offence ‘when a person uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or displays any written material which is threatening, abusive or insulting and he has the intention to stir up racial hatred or, looking at all the facts, that is the likely outcome of their actions.’ Based on this criteria and the fact that these overtly white supremacist symbols and salutes are targeted at a specific racialised group of people, these acts are hate crimes that have been ignored by Northumbria Police.
By ignoring these salutes, symbols, and speech that is directly threatening to the residents in the hotel and to those taking part in the counter protests, Northumbria Police are failing to protect the people of Newcastle and the North East, especially those with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. With a supposed purpose ‘to keep people safe and fight crime’, Northumbria Police are failing to meet their objectives. By not acting on blatant displays of white supremacy, Northumbria Police are not only putting the residents of The Newbridge Hotel at risk, but also the wider community in Newcastle. Without consequences, the actions of far-right groups like these are effectively condoned by the state, and extremists are encouraged to push further to test the limits of the police - likely until someone is hurt.
The behaviour of Northumbria Police towards far-right anti-immigrant protesters contrasts significantly with their treatment of anti-genocide and anti-racist campaigners in the city. From December 2023 to April 2025, £488,530 was spent policing pro-Palestine protests by Northumbria Police, much of which on protecting Pearson Engineering, an arms factory in the West End of Newcastle that is a subsidiary of Rafael Advanced Defense System, Israel’s state-owned defense manufacturer.
Northumbria Police have allowed Pearson Engineering security to assault protestors as well as harming protesters themselves, imposed strict conditions on protests around the factory and frequently arrested activists, disproportionately those of colour. This is part of a wider trend of police behaviour according to recent data revealed by Global Witness, which found that UK climate protests were more heavily policed than the far-right. Findings show that, if arrested, climate protesters are twice as likely to be charged than far-right protesters. Heavily policing progressive protesters while allowing the far-right to grow without consequence is not an attitude that is unique to Northumbria Police, it has become part of the state apparatus of 21st century Britain.
When racial hatred and hateful division is being encouraged and stoked by people like Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson to such a successful and disturbing degree that a Reform government does not seem ludicrous, we need everyone who is opposed to fascism, racism and extremism to stand loudly against it. We need people to show up on the streets to counter protest demonstrations like the ones outside of The Newbridge Hotel. We need people to hold forces like Northumbria Police accountable for condoning Nazi salutes outside people’s place of residence. We also need our governing figures, from the Prime Minister and the Government to local council leaders, to offer clear and hopeful alternatives. Rather than pandering to the far-right as the Labour Government has been, we need politicians who truly stand against hatred. The Labour Party has not been assertive enough to achieve this - if more confidence was held in the current government and their policies, parties like Reform would not have the opportunity to attract as many supporters.
When we have so much instability and ongoing crises occurring, it is no wonder people are scared. I am scared. The climate crisis, how expensive it has become just to survive, wars, genocides, lack of funds for schools and healthcare. There’s a lot to be worried about, and there’s no simple solution or silver bullet to make them go away. It’s easier to pin the blame on a small group of outsiders than to take the time to grapple with the complex causes of these issues. In other words ‘it is easier to imagine an end to the world than an end to capitalism’.
There are so many reasons the far-right have gripped hold of so many people in the UK. From social media algorithms, conspiracy theorists, recession, government incompetencies, and media literacy crises, there’s no single solution. The people who are protesting outside The Newbridge Hotel are not going to be easily persuaded to shun the likes of Tommy Robinson. Attempts at conversation and discussion have proven ineffective and opened up individuals initiating discussion to hostility. That route is unsafe and unhelpful in these situations. So what can we do? How can we make 2026 the year we see the far-right begin to decline rather than continue to grow?
We may not be able to de-radicalise anti-immigrant protesters like those outside The Newbridge Hotel, but we can engage with those in the wider community who may be sympathetic to far-right ideologies but aren’t yet out on the streets or committed to voting Reform. We can work locally to build existing community initiatives, grassroots campaigns for justice, and community organising efforts, and work to create new ones where needed. We can hold the police and politicians accountable when they allow hateful and harmful behaviour to go unchallenged or without consequences. If collusion between the police, mainstream politicians like Farage and the far-right continues and deepens, we risk sliding into a police state with further restrictions on freedom of speech for those speaking out against racism, genocide, and fascism.
We already have sources of hope and motivation from last year we can look towards. With a massive community effort and organising, Plaid Cymru significantly beat Reform UK in the Caerphilly Senedd by-election in October, after Reform were polled to win. This victory showed the power of communities coming together and that victory for Reform in any election is not inevitable. By banding together, speaking with our neighbours and working to build stronger relationships rather than climates of isolation, we can build a society that values people over profit, and where performing a Nazi salute is embarrassing and taboo rather than green lit by the state.
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