An Altrincham resident, speaking from a protest at a local asylum hotel, told GB News what ultimately prompted him to demonstrate.
Derek Notley joined GB News reporter Steve Bennett at the protest and admitted it was his first time.
He said seeing a suspended Labour councillor calling for far-right activists’ throats to be cut at an anti-racism rally being cleared was the final straw.
Ricky Jones, 58, has been on trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court after footage showed him making reference to “disgusting Nazi fascists” while addressing a crowd in Walthamstow on 7 August last year.
Derek Notley hit out on GB News
|GB NEWS
The Dartford councillor had denied encouraging violent behaviour and he was today found not guilty by a jury.
Mr Notley told GB News his frustration at the ruling led to him speaking out.
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Asked what “brought him out”, he said: “The Labour councillor who said ‘cut their throats’. If I had said that tonight, the police would have arrested me instantly and I would have been in a cell.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous. We have a clueless Labour Government.”
Mr Notley joined Steven Bennett on GB News
|GB NEWS
Mr Notley went on to discuss how the local hotel being used to house asylum seekers has affected the local community.
He told the People’s Channel: “It’s not nice. My daughter doesn’t feel safe and you have to be watching all the time. It’s not safe anymore.
“They’re wandering around and what they’re doing is being covered up by police. It’s an absolute joke.
“They say the area I work in is meant to be posh but it’s not. This has dragged it right down.
“We support our British people first. I have been homeless myself and I got no help. I watched this on the internet and no one wants to be here.
“On a Friday night, people want to be down at the pub, but it’s got too much.”
The Home Office says it removed 6,000 people from hotels in early 2025 and has already gone about closing hotels.
Labour pledges to have them all shut by the next election.
Many of the hotels are filled with asylum seekers who have travelled to Britain across the Channel via small boat, an issue which continues to plague the Government.