ANTI-RACISTS gathered in a demonstration of solidarity with refugees beinghoused in an Erskine Hotel today, repelling the Patriotic Alternative (PA).

The counter-demonstration was organised by the local trades council and supported by the Young Communist League (YCL) and local residents.

The PA, led on the site by the ex-British National Party activist Simon Crane, were accompanied by a handful of local residents after it characterised the refugees in the hotel as “200 fight-age men” on social media.

Local residents on both sides began a dialogue about their mutual concerns during the gatherings, discussing worries about local housing, education and service provision.

As dialogue broke out, it was interrupted and shouted over by PA members.

Unite member Nathan met a particularly vocal local grandmother in the middle to discuss her fears.

Speaking afterwards, he said: “People are right to be angry at not being kept informed about what is going on in their community.

“It is clearly a tactic of the Home Office to keep people in the dark and to allow these lies to take hold, it’s an extension of the policy of the ‘hostile environment’.

“We need people to focus their anger on the people behind austerity, and it isn’t refugees.”

Julie, a local resident, said: “There’s is support for refugees in our community, and I came along to offer my support and solidarity at the hotel when I first heard.

“I spoke to people from the other side of the barriers last week and I did it again today when things quietened, they’re not being told the real story.”

PA activists began to make their way to their cars when the meeting in the middle took place.

Josh, speaking for the YCL, said: “We were here to listen to residents, and to tell them the truth.

“The PA tried to drown us out every time, because they know that when people realise the facts, they lose their power.”