Violence in Epping is still ongoing after an asylum seeker charged with the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl appeared in court. More than 1,000 protesters took to the streets outside a migrant hotel in Essex yesterday. The police said five were arrested…
Demonstrators chanted “send them home” and “save our kids”. Chief superintendent Simon Anslow said:
“Disappointingly we have seen yet another protest, which had begun peacefully, escalate into mindless thuggery with individuals again hurting one of our officers and damaging a police vehicle.”
Meanwhile the use of the hotel to house migrants has been opposed by two local Tory MPs Neil Hudson and Alex Burghart. As Burghart warned last week, Labour views flashpoints like the Ballymena and Southport riots as “aberrations, freak events”. Doesn’t seem to be the case anymore…
Tom Baldwin, author of Starmer’s hagiography, spoke to Times Radio:
Tom Baldwin: “I think he’d like to do something. He’s very dutiful and driven by service. That’s why he came into politics. I think that’s characterised his time as prime minister. He hasn’t always sought popularity or been good at being popular. But I think he has some of the necessary qualities that we actually do want in a prime minister. That resilience, that relentlessness, that ability to carry the weight and the job really does weigh very heavily on people and he carries that weight very, very well.”
Jo Coburn: “NATO Secretary-General?”
Tom Baldwin: “I think that’s something that he would be interested in. I think it probably requires Andy Burnham’s government to support him in that and these are some of the questions which Andy Burnham has to resolve quite quickly.”