Counter-protesters outnumber anti-immigrant group at demo in Reigate

Green Councillors and activists joined an approximately 60-strong counter-protest outside Reigate Town Hall tonight (Thursday October 9) to show solidarity with asylum seekers. This was to counter a protest about the use of local hotels, including the Four Points by Sheraton hotel in Horley, to house people seeking asylum.

The anti-migrant protest attracted about 10 people.

Cllr Jonathan Essex, leader of the Reigate & Banstead Borough Council Green group, said: “We must pull together as a community. Scapegoating the most desperate in our society, especially those fleeing conflict and oppression, harms our safety and cohesion. We should focus our frustration on the fat cats who get richer whilst we experience a severe cost-of-living crisis.”

The Horley hotel’s asylum accommodation is managed by Clearsprings, which was featured in this BBC article about the company’s £187m profits from government contracts https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce9r5m74de8o

Local resident and Quaker Paul Ingram said he counted about 10 anti-migrant protesters, and about 60 in the counter-protest, who were supportive of migrants. The atmosphere was relaxed and there was no serious aggression, he said.

He said: “Ours is a community built upon kindness and openness. We need to direct our energies to reversing the trends towards hate and division, poverty and inequality, corruption and exploitation. Blaming asylum seekers for the cost-of-living crisis is absurd when our public services depend upon migrants to function.”