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Cornwall anti-racists gear up to oppose demo targeting asylum-seeker hotel in Newquay

ANTI-RACISTS in Cornwall are gearing up to oppose a racist demo targeting a hotel in Newquay housing asylum-seekers this weekend. 

Campaigners with the Cornwall Resist network say they aim to stop the far right protesting outside the Beresford Hotel this Saturday as “fascism will not be tolerated on our streets.”

Recent weeks have seen a rise in anti-refugee demonstrations outside several hotels where asylum-seekers have been placed by the Home Office. 

Fifteen people, including a 13-year-old, were arrested in Knowsley earlier this month after a far-right protest outside a hotel broke out into violence. 

Cornwall Resist said the “horrific scenes” in Knowsley cannot be allowed to play out in Newquay. 

“There is a long and proud history of standing up to the far-right in Britain,” a spokesperson from the group said.

“When racists gather on our streets to threaten people who’ve fled war and devastation to seek sanctuary in our communities, it’s time to say enough is enough and stand shoulder to shoulder to oppose them.”

The anti-refugee protest has been promoted by Cornwall’s local Reform UK party, formerly the Brexit Party. 

Campaigners have linked the hateful demos to the government’s anti-immigration rhetoric. 

At an anti-refugee protest at a hotel in Rotherham last Saturday, racists were seen holding banners reading: “End the invasion — stop immigration,” echoing Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s description of small boat arrivals as an “invasion.” 

Organisers of the demo, backed by fascist groups Patriotic Alternative and Britain First, had leafleted the area beforehand, proclaiming: “We say no to illegal immigration.”

A counter-demonstration, attended by more than 300 anti-racists and trade unionists, also took place. 

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