The Latest Breaking News on Yvette Cooper condemns Nigel Farage’s criticisms of police

A group gathered outside The Bell Hotel, Epping, on Thursday evening and shortly after 7.30pm police said the protest had ‘so far been peaceful’.

Claims Essex police force bussed in antiracism activists have been denied but have spread on social media and rightwing news channels

Protests erupt at Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf as it prepares to house asylum seekers. Eggs thrown, police deployed, and costs hit £3bn yearly. Tensions rise over immigration policy, with locals and politicians divided.

COMMENT: Protesters outside a hotel housing asylum seekers have accused the local force of ‘bussing in’ anti-racism campaigners, a fallacy repeated by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and which has taken hold on social media. But it’s not the police stirring up trouble, says Sean O’Grady

Council leader Chris Whitbread said: ‘Repeated warnings to the Home Office about the unsuitability of both sites have gone unheeded’

The head of the Police Federation, Tiff Lynch, said officers were likely to be taken away from neighbourhood duties

Jonathan Reynolds says ‘I understand the frustrations people have’, as police brace for further unrest

Two members of the Homeland Party have been identified as administrators of the Facebook group organising the protests

The three sole administrators of the Facebook group, Epping Says No are believed to be members of the far-right political party Homeland