Councillors help end hotel asylum protests

Two Devon councillors say their intervention helped persuade asylum protesters to move away from an Exeter hotel and potentially avoid future gatherings there.

Ed Hill and Angela Nash attended the most recent protest outside the Hampton by Hilton near Exeter Airport, where weekly demonstrations had been held for a month.

Protesters had been divided between those critical of immigration and those supporting asylum seekers. Hill said he confirmed with the hotel manager that its occupants were families and women with children, not single men as previously claimed.

Cllr Hill, expelled from Reform UK earlier this year, described the visit as a “myth-busting mission”. Cllr Nash remains a Reform UK councillor.

Protester Mark Paddon said the councillors’ intervention convinced the group to relocate to Cathedral Green. “We made a decision to leave, en masse… based on Cllr Hill’s proof,” he said, adding that the protests were not intended to intimidate residents.

Mr Paddon also acknowledged the “horrendous” experiences of families in the hotel and pledged to organise donations. He said the protests were aimed at government asylum policies, not the asylum seekers themselves.

Cllr Hill added that once protesters understood the families’ circumstances, they agreed the hotel should no longer be a protest site.

Future protest locations are still being discussed, though the relocated event on Cathedral Green was described as “quiet and dignified”.