Nigel Farage has vowed to remove hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers as part of a five-year “mass deportation” plan for Britain under a Reform UK government.
Farage, the Reform UK leader, said the £10 billion policy would lead to five charter flights leaving the country every day under emergency legislation known as the Illegal Migration (Mass Deportation) Bill.
The bill would stop migrants coming to the UK on small boats claiming asylum and allow them to be held in detention centres on “surplus” RAF bases while awaiting deportation.
Farage said he would take Britain out of the European Convention on Human Rights and derogate from the UN Convention Against Torture and other international agreements.
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Tiktokers mingle with the crowd in Liverpool
In Liverpool the crowds are building on both sides, but there are still more counter-demonstrators — about 300 in total. One man dressed in black is waving an anti-fascist flag and flashing two fingers at those opposite.
More than 50 anti-migrant protesters have now gathered, brandishing Union Jacks and giant Ukip flags. There are signs saying “Stop the boats” and “Illegal criminals” alongside “Vote Ukip” placards. Only a few feet separate the two sides as the chanting continues.
Tiktokers mingled with the crowds on both sides filming the demo.
‘Liverpool is a multicultural city’
In Liverpool, Gaynor Kingsley, 62, held her husband’s hand as she held up a placard saying “Stop the far right”.
She told The Times: “We don’t want Liverpool to be a racist city. A cohesive England would be better. It’s sad to see this. We’re such a multicultural city — I don’t know why these people are here.”
Kingsley added: “It’s our city. We’ll decide who comes here and wrap our arms around them.”
UK is facing ‘massive crisis’, Farage says
Nigel Farage said in an interview with The Times that the UK was facing a “massive crisis” because of illegal immigration.
“It is not only posing a national security threat but it’s leading to public anger that frankly is not very far away from disorder,” Farage, the Reform UK leader, said.
“There is only one way to stop people coming into Britain and that is to detain them and deport them.”
Farage claimed that Britain was “going downhill very, very quickly” and said he believed he was the man to turn the country around, if elected prime minister.
Protests across the country on Friday
More than 250 demonstrators blocked a road and set off red flares near a hotel in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, on Friday.
The crowd outside the Marriott hotel included families with young children, groups of men and women wearing Union Jack T-shirts, and a female anti-migrant campaign group known as the Pink Ladies, whose members insisted they were “not far-right, just on the right side of history”.
Other protests took place outside hotels in Chichester, Portsmouth, Altrincham, and Leeds. Demonstrators also gathered near an airport hotel in Cardiff which houses families of Afghans who were granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK for their assistance to British forces fighting the Taliban.
Protesters outside the Britannia Hotel in Leeds were met with a large police presence
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JAMES GLOSSOP
Counter-protesters out in force in Bristol
The crowd in Bristol is bordered by two lines of police officers. Surrounding them on both sides is a significantly larger crowd of counter-demonstrators, who chanted slogans and waved placards that said: “Refugees are welcome here.”
Among the crowd of counter-demonstrators were people waving an antifascist flag, an Extinction Rebellion flag and a Young Communist League banner.
Last night, Avon and Somerset police issued a dispersal order for the city centre. A spokesman said the force had “plans in place to enable peaceful protest”.
‘Bristol Patriot’ group plays Rule Britannia
In Bristol, about two dozen anti-migrant protesters have begun to form up in Castle Park, in the city centre.
The demonstration has been organised by a group called “Bristol Patriots”, who have distributed a handful of St George flags and pre-made signs that read: “Stop the boats, deport illegals now.”
Over speakers, the protesters are playing Rule Britannia, followed by Sweet Caroline.
Anti-racism protesters gather in Liverpool
About a dozen police vans were in place around Liverpool’s St George’s Hall ahead of today’s march. Uniformed officers also stood together in small groups around the historic building.
Some 200 anti-racism protesters were surrounded by police. They chanted “Anti-fascists” and “Refugees welcome — open the borders. No deportations.”
They carried placards and signs reading “Smash the Far Right” and chanted: “Whose city? Our city.”
A handful of people carrying Ukip flags and Union Jacks were on the other side. One man carried a distinctive purple and yellow Ukip flag on a tall pole, and below it the red and white of a St George standard.
Demonstrations expected across the country
More than a dozen protests are due to take place over the weekend across England, Scotland and Wales.
Protests have already begun in Liverpool, Bristol and Perth, with counter-protesters outnumbering people demonstrating against migrant hotels.
Demonstrations are expected in Canary Wharf in central London as well as Exeter, Tamworth, Cannock, Nuneaton, Wakefield, Newcastle, and Horley in Surrey.
Further protests will be held in Aberdeen and Mold in Flintshire, Wales.
