Michelle Dewberry was embroiled in a tense row on GB News with a guest who warned protesters in Epping not to associate themselves with far-right factions.

Political commentator Sebastian Salek said “we are seeing reports in some of the papers” that neo-Nazis were arriving at the asylum hotel in Epping and causing chaos.

Michelle put it to Salek that far-left groups like Antifa were also turning up and potentially breaching the peace, but Salek said such claims were unsubstantiated.

He acknowledged that while people have a right to be concerned about sex crimes, they need to “be careful about who you share a platform with”.

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Michelle made it clear she was unconvinced by the arguments put forward, pointing to images of mask-clad demonstrators appearing to be escorted by police.

“Don’t you feel concerned about that when you see it, Sebastian?”, Michelle asked.

“We don’t know what he’s done yet”, said Salek.

“What we do know is that a neo-Nazi group is handing out leaflets at this protest, White Vanguard. It’s been handing out leaflets.

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“It’s been reported in the press that they’ve been saying quite frankly racist things.”

His next point irked Michelle as he said those protesting against sexual assault are “sharing a platform” with people handing out “racist leaflets”.

She countered: “What are you talking about? If I am a mother, and let me tell you this, there’s one of these hotels in Hull where I am from and some fella there has been sent to prison for sexually assaulting a mother in the middle of the night.

“If I am staying there as a women and I stand on my street corner saying, ‘I want my children to be safe, I want to be safe as a woman’, you’re telling me that some potential wrong’uns I know nothing about turn up and start spreading their message.

“You’re telling me that me, standing on a street corner, I’m in trouble. What are you talking about?”

He said: “There are also people who have been attacking the police. Do you really want to be in that environment? Do you feel safe in that environment?”

Michelle hit back: “I don’t want to be in an environment actually where normal mothers who have a concern about the safety of their children are somehow getting tarred with the brush of being far-right and all the rest of it.

“You seem to be convinced these people are somehow Neo-Nazi, far-right lunatics. I don’t know what your evidence for that is, by the way.”

The police have imposed a dispersal order for Epping from Thursday at 2pm until Friday at 8am

“I read it in the papers”, said Salek, to which Michelle joked: “Oh well, it must be true then.”

She continued: “I remember it being reported at the Southport riots that it was far-right, organised crime and everyone with a brain cell could see that was not true whatsoever.

“It was just concerned people. When an enquiry actually took place, it then became apparent there was no organised far-right groups. There was no people being bussed in en masse from organised far-right groups. It was nonsense.

“What you’ve got is local people and primarily working class people that are fed up and I think are bravely taking a position.”

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The demonstrations reached their peak on Sunday evening when approximately 1,000 individuals assembled outside the hotel, resulting in what local police described as "mindless thuggery".

Eight officers sustained injuries during Thursday's protest, which initially began peacefully before deteriorating into disorder and criminal damage.

A woman became the target of violent attacks as bottles and other projectiles were hurled at her by the crowd, whilst others hurled abuse and attempted to reach her. Six individuals have faced charges connected to the disorder, including allegations of assaulting two hotel security guards.

The financial burden of managing these incidents has reached £100,000, according to Essex Police.

The force clarified that officers established a foot cordon around demonstrators travelling to the protest site, allowing them to exercise their right to peaceful assembly.

Later, individuals facing potential harm were transported away from the area by police vehicles for their protection.

Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Hooper explained: "We have a reasonable duty to protect people who want to exercise their rights."

He stated that police would only remove people from protests when facing immediate threats to persons or property, to free up police resources, to protect others, or to prevent additional violence.

"In Epping, officers took all three of those into account before making their decisions," he added.