Epping Forest District Council leader Chris Whitbread spoke to BBC Newsnight last night in the area about the ongoing protests, telling Victoria Derbyshire it is a “powder keg.” Whitbread said the hotel must be closed:
“I understand families who are deeply upset by what’s happened and I really get it, but I understood it before and that’s why from day one Epping Forest District Council had a position of this was the wrong location for this hotel and it’s a powder keg now and we need to get something done and we need the Home Office to listen.”
More than a hundred people were gathered outside the Bell Hotel in Epping on Sunday night as demonstrators chanted “save our kinds” and “send them home.” Six people have been arrested so far. Whitbread added that the point is not about the violent agitators but the locals:
“Fair-minded people within the local community, initially protesting peacefully, want the hotel closed. They don’t feel that it’s the right location for it. They want the hotels closed. I have to say, as the leader of the council, that’s always been my position and the council’s position. This is just not a suitable location. The sooner it’s dealt with, the better.”
Labour has so far decided primarily to avoid discussion of the local’s concerns and focus on protest violence. Unsustainable…
Sarah Pochin at Reform Scotland’s manifesto launch event: “I really wanted to come on in a Reform tartan burka, but apparently I wasn’t allowed… One day let’s do one of these events not live-streamed. We’ll do all the naughty stuff…”