Will the Epping hotel riots spark another summer of unrest? – podcast
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Version 0 of 1. A year after Southport, what’s driving the turmoil in Essex? Ben Quinn reports After an asylum seeker staying at a hotel in Epping was charged with sexual assault, the past two weeks have brought a series of escalating and violent demonstrations from local residents and far-right agitators. On Sunday came the most serious unrest yet, with about 1,000 people gathering outside the hotel, escalating into what local police called “mindless thuggery”. Ben Quinn, a senior reporter at the Guardian, was at the scene and describes to Helen Pidd how the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, reacted at a press conference the next day: Farage: Do I understand how people in Epping feel? You bet your life I do. Nick Lowles, the chief executive of the anti-racism organisation Hope Not Hate, says Epping has been a hotbed of far-right activity for years. He describes how the recent demonstrations have drawn nationalist activists from around the country but says that, despite that fact, local anger should not be ignored. Lowles believes that listening to residents and offering them a better future is the best way to counter the racist and violent narratives increasingly entering the mainstream. Support the Guardian today: theguardian.com/todayinfocuspod |