Britain First leader Paul Golding talking to the media outside Westminster Magistrates' Court in February after he was charged with failing to comply with a duty under schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act
ANTI-RACISTS have spoken out against a sinister series of attacks by Britain First on refugee hotels.
Two hotels housing asylum-seekers in Coventry were targeted by supporters of the far-right group on Saturday, with two men arrested on suspicion of assault against a member of staff.
The day before, Britain First posted a video to its website of asylum-seekers in a hotel in Newcastle — the latest in its campaign to “expose every migrant hotel in the country.”
Ten days earlier, Britain First thugs swarmed a hotel housing asylum-seekers in the Midlands town of Bromsgrove. Footage showed them knocking on doors to badger refugees about their country of origin and whether they paid for the rooms themselves.
The group also invaded a social services office in Bradford in West Yorkshire, demanding information about alleged grooming of young women by Asian men.
On each occasion the attacks were filmed and placed on Britain First’s website.
The site now shows footage from hotels in Warrington, Newcastle, north London, Essex and Bromsgrove.
In the videos, most asylum-seekers say they are from war-torn countries.
Anti-fascists warn that the selection of “soft targets” for attacks is copied from tactics used by neonazis elsewhere in Europe.
In Germany this has developed into arson attacks on refugee hostels and even the killing of figures in organisations that help refugees.
Weyman Bennett, co-convenor of Stand Up To Racism, told the Morning Star that Britain First’s actions are a “very sinister development.”
“There is a network of European far-right groups and they learn from each other,” he warned.
Asylum accommodation in Britain is run by privateers including Serco, Clearsprings and the Mears Group.
The Status Now Network, which campaigns for all migrants to be given the right to remain in Britain, said that privateers and the Home Office have an “inescapable duty of care” for refugees in their care.
“Britain First members are filming people, including children, without their permission and then uploading it to their website where it can be copied and sent on,” the group said.
“The location and the people living in the hotel can be easily identified and so they are being placed at risk on every level.”
Stand Up to Racism Coventry is holding a protest at 5pm on Wednesday against Britain First’s attacks on the city’s asylum-seeker population.
