A group of Labour councillors have compared migrant hotel protesters to Nazis and urged local residents to reject "right-wing extremists" in a lengthy tirade about demonstrations held 15 miles away in Epping.

Tower Hamlets Labour Group also raised the borough's history of rejecting Oswald Mosley's Black Shirts at Cable Street and the British National Party in the 1990s.

In the statement, Tower Hamlets Labour Group said: "The East End has a long history of providing a safe haven for those fleeing religious and political persecution.

"As Labour councillors, we are proud of that history and believe Tower Hamlets should continue ti play its part.

"Those claiming asylum in the UK have a right to have their case properly considered, and they must of course be accommodated while it is being decided.

"Most importantly, they should never be subject to this kind of abuse and threats of violence we have seen on the streets of Epping in the past week.

"We are appalled that some right-wing extremists are seeking to use this moment to stir up racial hatred against refugees and other migrants too, and we stand with the overwhelming majority of decent people here in Tower Hamlets who will reject their divisive politics, just as our borough rejected Mosley's Black Shirts in the 1930s and the BNP in the 1990s."