Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has called for the immediate shutdown of hotels housing asylum seekers as demonstrations erupted across Britain over the weekend.
The opposition leader threw her support behind local demands to close facilities permanently following a wave of protests that swept through multiple cities on Saturday.
Badenoch specifically endorsed calls to shut the Bell Hotel in Epping, where local councillors voted unanimously for its immediate and permanent closure as an asylum processing facility.
Speaking to GB News, she was critical of a Home Office plan to monitor social media for anti-migrant comments: “This is where the Government needs to be very careful.
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|Kemi Badenoch threw her weight behind the migrant hotel closure
"They will say that the police have operational independence, but as we saw in Southport last year, the government response, if badly handled, can actually create a lot more unrest.
“What I've been seeing in Essex is actually local people saying we don't want our girls being harassed by people in migrant hotels.
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“We, the Conservatives, have been calling for that specific hotel to be closed down, because you have to show people that there is a response when they have legitimate concerns.
“Then what happens is that while they're protesting, you get all these agitators turning up from all sorts of groups on the left and right, who are looking for a fight. That's what the police should focus on, not the everyday people.”
She added: “It's a tinderbox. But the root cause is the small boats.
"We tried, I admit, we didn't succeed. We tried to stop the boats. We need tougher policies. Rwanda never got off the ground.”
The Home Office has established a specialist police unit to track social media for anti-immigration content, sparking fierce criticism from opposition politicians.
The National Internet Intelligence Investigations team will operate from Westminster's National Police Coordination Centre, tasked with "maximising social media intelligence" to detect potential civil disorder.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage condemned the initiative as "sinister" and warned it marked the beginning of "state controlling free speech".
The unit comprises detectives from various forces nationwide and was formed following criticism of police responses to last year's riots.
PA | Epping has been hit by a wave of protests over the migrant hotelGovernment data reveals 32,000 asylum seekers are currently housed in hotels across Britain.
Badenoch emphasised the importance of responding to legitimate public concerns, warning that poor Government handling could "actually create a lot more unrest," referencing last year's Southport incidents.
She stressed that authorities must demonstrate they are listening when communities raise valid grievances about asylum accommodation.