Hundreds gather for protests outside hotel housing asylum seekers in Falkirk

Hundreds of people gathered to protest and counter protest outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Falkirk.

Two demonstrations, organised by a group called Save our Future and our Kids’ Futures, took place in the town on Saturday.

The first demonstration saw hundreds of protesters gather outside Labour MP Euan Stainbank’s office.

Protesters gathered outside Labour MP Euan Stainbank's office. — Protesters gathered outside Labour MP Euan Stainbank’s office. STV News

Later, more than 200 assembled outside the nearby Cladhan Hotel, where asylum seekers are being housed by the Home Office while awaiting their claims to be processed.

Posts advertising the protest said the action wasn’t “against all immigration” but does oppose illegal immigrants and the use of hotels to house asylum seekers.

The anti-immigration group was met by about 200 counter-protesters from trade unions and the campaign group Stand Up To Racism.

A protester with Save our Future and our Kids’ Futures told STV News: “This needs to stop. They need to stop filling the hotels, there’s people that are homeless, why are the people who are homeless not getting in the hotels.”

Counter protesters said: “No human is illegal, and we all have a right to a safe place to live.”

Police separated both sides behind barriers, with the counter protesters in a car park for the hotel and the anti-immigration group on the opposite pavement.

The demonstration is the second in as many weeks outside the Cladhan Hotel.

Following last week’s protest, Falkirk Council’s chief executive Kenneth Lawrie praised Falkirk’s long history of welcoming people into the area, and said diversity would make the area stronger.

Lawrie said the protests were “concerning” and warned those spreading misinformation that they were doing “real harm”.

“While there will always be an important right to protest and assemble, as an essential part of our democratic process, some of what we saw at the weekend, outside the Cladhan Hotel, was deeply concerning,” he said.

“Protests that target vulnerable people and repeat false claims do real harm.

“They can create division, spread fear and do not reflect the values of Falkirk as a community.

“Intimidation and abuse are not acceptable.

“Our responsibility as a council is to provide facts and to challenge misinformation and to build community cohesion. We will continue to do that.”

Another protest took place outside a facility in Perth last week as tensions have risen in Scotland at the housing of asylum seekers in hotels.

On Monday, polling suggested concerns over immigration were in the top three issues of concern for Scots.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage used an appearance in Scotland to say he thought immigration would become a wider issue north of the border ahead of the Holyrood election next year.