Britain's asylum policy is in crisis, against the backdrop of a worrisome far-right surge. On August 19, a judge sided with the town of Epping Forest, north of London, which had sought to close a hotel in its jurisdiction that was hosting asylum seekers. The decision validated the efforts of activists who, for a month, gathered around the hotel, chanting "Send them home." The news inspired dozens of other city councils to turn to the courts to shut down similar hotels. It also emboldened the far right, and anti-migrant protests multiplied over the weekend.

Several dozen rallies took place outside hotels in cities such as Bristol, Leicester, Newcastle, and Liverpool. Around 200 hotels across the country currently house 32,000 asylum seekers. Unlike the racist riots of August 2024 that erupted after the killings in Southport, where three young girls were murdered by a British youth, these protests were not violent. However, xenophobic rhetoric was widespread, and antiracist counter-protesters were often outnumbered.

The gathering in Horley, Surrey, on Saturday, amplified by the far-right ReformUK party that now leads the polls with a 10-point lead over the ruling Labour Party, was emblematic of these heightened tensions. Around noon, about 30 members of the Stand Up to Racism organization met at the train station of this quiet town near Gatwick Airport. The police were already present to supervise – or rather, to protect them from some 200 anti-migrant protesters stationed a few kilometers away in front of the Four Points by Sheraton hotel, which houses asylum seekers.

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