Protests over the use of hotels to house asylum seekers have continued, as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced reforms aimed at clearing a huge backlog of appeals.
Demonstrations took place on Sunday in Birmingham and London, a day after nationwide protests led to at least 15 arrests.
Read also: Anti-migrant protests erupt across UK over asylum hotels
Outside the Castle Bromwich Holiday Inn in Birmingham, protesters draped in St George’s flags gathered at the entrance, with one person climbing a ladder to hang a flag on a lamp post. At the Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf, police officers and security guards stood behind barriers while around 20 protesters waved Union flags and displayed banners, including one reading “Tower Hamlets council house homeless Brits first.”
The protests come as official figures show asylum applications hit a record 111,084 in the year to June 2025. While the backlog of initial decisions has fallen to 90,812, some 32,000 asylum seekers are still being housed in hotels. Labour has pledged to end the use of hotels for accommodation by 2029.
Cooper said the biggest pressure now comes from appeals, with about 51,000 cases waiting to be heard and delays stretching beyond a year. She described the situation as “completely unacceptable” and set out plans for a fast-track system where independent adjudicators, rather than judges, would decide appeals.
“We inherited an asylum system in chaos,” she said. “We are determined to restore control and order. Already we have reduced the initial backlog by 24% and increased failed asylum returns by 30%, but appeals delays are keeping people in the system for years at huge cost to the taxpayer. Our reforms will deliver a system that is swift, fair and independent.”
However, New Dailyprime had earlier reported that protest had began at asylum hotels while tension rise across UK.
