Protesters dubbed the “Pink Ladies” have converged on Westminster in a demonstration against the use of hotels to house asylum seekers.
The “Pink Protest” is taking placing between 10am and 2pm, with counter-protesters from campaign group Stand Up to Racism gathering near Downing Street.
Pink Ladies groups have held similar demonstrations over the summer outside immigration hotels where refugees and immigrants have been staying, including Canary Wharf and Epping.
The group, made up of women describing themselves as local mothers, sisters, and grandmothers, say they are “not far-right, just on the right side of history.”
Conservative councillor Susan Hall said Wednesday’s protest will be a “very peaceful affair” involving women who are “fed up with illegal migrants in hotels in their communities”.
Follow The Standard’s live blog for the latest updates...
Key points
- Who are the Pink Ladies?
- What is the Pink Ladies protest in Westminster?
Pink Ladies told 'go back to the Tube'
13:04 , Bill Bowkett
After taking photographs in front of the Palace of Westminster, organiser Orla Minihane instructed demonstrators to disperse. She told the crowd to go back to the Tube, adding: “You are the suffragettes of 2025.”
Pink Ladies about to march from Downing Street to Parliament Square
12:56 , Bill Bowkett
Britain 'turned into dustbin of Europe'
12:27 , Bill BowkettOrla Minihane, the organiser of the Pink Protest and vice-chairman of Reform UK’s Epping Forest branch , told the crowd: “Just because these men happen to be from a certain background, a certain geography is not why we don’t want them here. We don’t want them here because we don’t know who they are. Why have we turned into the dustbin of Europe?”
Fellow speaker Sarah White added: “We are united by one cause: protecting our children and standing up for those who are most vulnerable. I don’t care what side you’re on, left or right. I’m sure we can all agree that the needs of children are the most important.”
Demonstration against ‘genocide’ in southern Cameroon gathers 100m away
12:22 , Bill Bowkett
Protest 'weaponised against people of colour', says Patsy Stevenson
12:18 , Bill Bowkett
Patsy Stevenson, the gender equality campaigner who won a payout from the Metropolitan Police after being held down by officers during a 2021 protest in Clapham in solidarity with Sarah Everard, told The Standard at the Pink Ladies’ counterprotest: “At the moment, women’s rights are being weaponised against people of colour.
“It is not just people seeking asylum; the hate is now extending to all people who are not white. It is a real shame seeing lots of people turn up for the marches that are heavily racist in their rhetoric. For me, I have experinced assault and harrasment from men my entire life and I know many women have.
“And to use our experinces as a way to be racist is just abhorent. We don’t stand for it. I have Irish blood in me. I know many people at these marches have immigrant blood in them. It baffles me. They were playing Aretha Franklin earlier and I don’t think they understand what that means.”
Susan Hall: 'We are not far-Right'
12:00 , Bill BowkettSusan Hall, the Conservative leader in City Hall, wearing a pink blazer, told the Pink Protest: “Thank you to the media for coming, because we need this exposed. We need this organisation shown for what it is. We are not far-Right. We are not racist.
“We are just very concerned mothers (and) grandmothers. And I have a message for Keir Starmer: don’t you ever come between a mother and her child when she is trying to look after them because do you know what, Keir Starmer, it will not end well.
“Women have got grit. We are going to carry on until these people are not being put in hotels and in our communites. We will carry on until we need to.”
The Pink Ladies are out again today & Susan Hall is there to offer her support 👏👏🩷🤍🩷🤍 pic.twitter.com/SdPi2Cozwk
— 🤍𝕁𝕆🤍 (@jomickane) October 1, 2025
Counterprotest dispersed
11:49 , Bill BowkettBy around 11.45am, the counterprotest by Stand Up To Racism and Women Against the Far Right had dispersed from Parliament Square peacefully.
A spokesman for Stand Up To Racism told The Standard the action cleared due to demonstrators having other commitments.
'Mass immigration is the biggest issue facing women today', says protester
11:40 , Megan HoweSpeaking to the Pink Ladies, Jess Gill, one of founding members of the Women’s Safety Initiative, said: “This is the biggest issue facing women today - illegal immigration is impacting women in their day to day lives.
“We’ve had thousands of women come to us about their day to day experiences.
“We’ve had young girls uncomfortable with migrant hotels being right next to their schools.
“We have grandmothers who are teaching children about the signs of grooming.
“This isn’t what Britain should be.”
Diane Abbott MP joins counter-protesters in Whitehall
11:36 , Megan HoweIndependent MP Diane Abbott has been pictured at the counter-protest today.
'You've got the right idea but the wrong target'
11:29 , Megan HoweSarah Zad, 34, from London, has been pictured at the counter protest today saying the Pink Ladies have ‘the right idea but the wrong target’.
“I think it’s horrific that women are scapegoating migrants over sexual assault and saying protect our kids when most sexual assault happens through someone you know.
“There are less than 1% of refugees in the UK that make up the population and they are using a few examples to demonize a whole group of them.
“I wrote this sign because I think that they're going after the right idea, but they're demonizing the wrong people, and I hope that more women come out and stand up and show that this is an issue that affects all of us, but it's not being perpetrated by one group of people.”
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'We're here to oppose a divisive narrative', says Stand Up To Racism organiser
11:24 , Megan HoweSamira Ali, 25, national organiser for Stand Up to Racism and Women Against the Far Right told The Standard that counter-protesters will turn up to any protest organised by the ‘far right’.
“We're here today, as women against the far right, as a campaign that is a part of the anti-racist movement that is trying to mobilise women,” she told The Standard.
“But it's importantly at a time when the far-right are trying to use a narrative that they are the protectors of women and children and the people they should be protecting them from are refugees and migrants in this country.
“We are here to oppose that rhetoric and that divisive narrative and we've called the protest because the far-right have called a protest here to so-called protect women and children.
“We're here to take a stand against the far right and say wherever they mobilise, we will be here, to oppose them.”
PM says he won't 'tear down' international laws but says a rethink is needed
11:18 , Megan HoweWhile the anti-migration protest is ongoing, Sir Keir Starmer has signalled his government is planning to change the way human rights laws are applied to tackle the challenge of “mass migration”.
The Prime Minister said Downing Street would “look again” at how international laws are interpreted by UK courts.
Pushed on what he thought was blocking deportations of foreign criminals, Sir Keir cited Articles 3 and 8 of the ECHR - which ban torture and protect the right to private and family life respectively.
"But it's more than that, it’s the (UN) Refugee Convention, it’s the Torture Convention, the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
“I’m not going to tear all that down. I believe in those instruments, I believe in the rule of law and I think they matter.
“But all international instruments…have to be applied in the circumstances as they are now. We’re seeing mass migration in a way that we haven’t seen in previous years.”
Keir Starmer says UK will 'look again' at human rights laws to tackle mass migration
'Girls are scared to go to school', says Pink Ladies protester
10:55 , Megan HoweMaxine Mitchell, 65, from Epping, joins protesters as a grandmother.
She said women and young girls in Epping are scared to go to school and come home because of “undocumented” immigrants being placed in hotels.
She told The Standard: “It's getting out of hand. We don't know who these immigrants are, they're undocumented, they're being put in our hotels.
“A girl got sexually assaulted in Epping. Now all the young girls are scared to go to school and come back home.
“I want the women and children to feel safe, you know, we're scared.”
“This is going to carry on until something's done. We're not having it,” Maxine added.
'I'm not a racist, I'm a worried mother'
10:45 , Megan HoweOne protester’s placard reads: ‘I’m not a racist, I’m a worried mother’.
Protester wears Charlie Kirk t-shirt
10:27 , Megan HoweOne Pink Ladies protestor is pictured wearing a Charlie Kirk shirt, which reads “proved him right” on the back.
When asked why he chose to wear the shirt, he said: “Because I support Charlie Kirk and he would have stood by this.”
In Pictures: Pink Ladies unfurl banner at protest
10:18 , Megan HoweMore Pink Ladies have joined the protest this morning, unfurling a banner which reads: ‘The Voices of our Children’.
'The Pink Ladies have hijacked the Suffragette flag' says counter protester
10:15 , Megan HowePaula Peters, 54, from Bromley, said will be speaking at the counter protest later.
Speaking to The Standard, she said: “We come together and we say no to racism in our community, no to fascism in our community, and we've got to come together and make sure we have a safer community for everyone.”
Paula, who is a disabled woman, told The Standard that two of her ancestors were in the suffragette movement and they would be “appalled” at the Pink Ladies’ use of suffragist colours in their flag.
“The Pink Ladies have hijacked the suffragette flag, which is a green, white and purple, flag, and that is an insult to the suffragist movement,” she said.
“To my ancestors, two of whom were in the suffragist movement, that is an absolute insult. If they were here today, they would have gone over there and taken that flag.
“They've weaponized it. It's an absolute, absolute appalling thing to do.”
Counter-protesters outnumber Pink Ladies
10:01 , Megan HoweAround 50 to 80 counter-protesters have gathered at Parliament Square this morning, outnumbering the Pink Ladies by around 5-1.
Counter protesters have been forced to move over to Downing Street side while Pink Ladies remain opposite.
The counter protesters can be heard chanting: “Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here” and “Stop the fascists now now now”.
Small group of Pink Ladies gather
09:56 , Megan HoweA small group of Pink Ladies have gathered at Parliament Square this morning, approximately 10, according to our reporter on the scene.
Met Police at the scene
09:49 , Megan HoweSix police vans and a car have been spotted outside Downing Street as of 9.45am, as protesters and counter-protesters gather ahead of 10am.
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Who are the Pink Ladies?
09:46 , Megan HoweAnti-migrant protesters dubbed the ‘Pink Ladies’ describe themselves as concerned mothers, sisters and grandmothers, who are ‘disgusted’ by the Home Office’s policy of placing young male small-boat arrivals at the Britannia International in Canary Wharf at the cost of taxpayers.
The group emerged this summer as a fraction of wider anti-migrant protests after The Bell Hotel became the subject of anti-migrant protests after then-resident Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, from Ethiopia, was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. He has since been jailed for 12 months.
Charity worker Lorraine Kavanagh, 70, a founder of the Pink Ladies, said of the migrants: “We don’t hate these people. I can’t hate someone I don’t know. What I hate is the system. This government is supposed to be protecting us, and they’re not.”
Pink Ladies protests have so far appeared in Aldershot, Altrincham, Epping and Canary Wharf.
Critics have accused the Pink Ladies of being far-right supporters, but they say that is “a stupid assertion”.
What is the Pink Protest in Westminster today?
09:04 , Megan HoweAn anti-immigration protest will take place at Westminster, dubbed the Pink Protest, today, October 1, between 10am and 2pm.
The movement claims to be protecting women and children and voicing women’s opinions to the government.
Other Pink Ladies groups have demonstrated outside immigration hotels where refugees and immigrants are staying, demonstrating the focus on immigration.
Conservative councillor Susan Hall also said that the group is “fed up with illegal migrants in hotels in their communities” in a Facebook post promoting the march.
Westminster Pink Protest sparks counter-events: What you need to know
Good morning
09:01 , Megan HoweGood morning and welcome to The Standard’s live blog for the ‘Pink Protest’ taking place in central London today.
Anti-migrant protesters dubbed the Pink Ladies are set to converge on Whitehall today as part of a demonstration against the use of hotels to house asylum seekers.
Stand Up To Racism is planning a counter-protest from 9.30am at Downing Street, with the tagline: “Refugees are not to blame.”
Follow our live blog for the latest updates.
