By Jason Lewis, Local Democracy Reporter

 Southampton MP Satvir Kaur believes anti-immigration protests outside a city hotel which is housing asylum seekers are “crossing a line”.

 

Ms Kaur has written to a senior police officer calling for the force to “urgently review” the approach being taken on demonstrations outside Highfield House Hotel in Portswood.

The Southampton Test MP said residents of the hotel and their neighbours were being “subjected to the most appalling, vitriolic and possibly criminal abuse, week in, week out”.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said they had to balance the rights of those lawfully gathering, who have the right to free speech, and the rights of others to go about their lives without being subject to “unacceptable disruption”.

The letter from the former Southampton City Council leader to Superintendent Phil Lamb, which she shared on social media, came after the latest protests held outside the hotel in Highfield Lane on Sunday, August 17.

Ms Kaur said many residents had contacted her about the demonstrations.

The MP said she hugely valued and would endlessly defend the right to peacefully protest on any subjetct, but she believed the demonstrations were “crossing a line, causing a great deal of distress to residents and needlessly subjecting the neighbourhood to frequent disruption”.

In her letter, the Labour politician said constituents had expressed particular concern about the police response, with a “feeling” demonstrators had been able to “abuse, harass and intimidate residents without intervention”.

She gave examples of reports she had received about the demonstrations, which included allegations of participants setting up in the grounds of the hotel, banging on windows, and screaming abuse and obscenities through megaphones.

Police have reportedly been taking video recordings of the demonstrations, with the intention of gathering evidence and considering charges where criminality is detected retrospectively.

Ms Kaur said she had been told by Chief Inspector Chris Douglas this was done to prevent violent escalation that could arise from police intervening and making arrests at the scene, while still holding offenders to account if crimes were later detected.

However, the politician added : “While I am reassured that some arrests have been made, I and many others are concerned that, in police taking this approach, residents of the hotel and their neighbours are still being subjected to the most appalling, vitriolic and possibly criminal abuse, week in, week out.

Responding to comments on her social media, Ms Kaur said she did not think everyone who joined the protests outside the hotel was racist, acknowledging that a lot of people are worried about what was happening nationally or locally.

In response to Ms Kaur’s letter, a Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service during any protest the priority of command teams and officers on the ground was the safety of the public and those attending.

“We ensure teams with the right skills are on duty and present at a protest, to allow us to police the gathering and carry out any subsequent investigation in the days and weeks following, should anyone behave outside of the law,” the spokesperson said.

“Policing protests requires us to balance the rights of those lawfully gathering, who have the right to free speech, and the rights of others to go about their lives without being subject to unacceptable disruption.”

Ms Kaur’s letter was written and published before the High Court granted a district council in Essex a temporary injunction to block asylum seekers from being housed at a hotel in Epping.

• Further protests and counter-protests are anticpated on Friday (Aug 22) from around 5.30pm.