Protesters announce march through Falkirk town centre to asylum seeker hotel
The organisers of a protest planned for this weekend in Falkirk have now announced they will march through the town.
The group Save Our Future and Our Kids Futures held a protest outside the Cladhan Hotel two weeks ago. The building is being used by the Home Office to house asylum seekers and, following the sentencing of one former resident to nine years in jail for the rape of a 15-year-old girl, public feelings have been running high.
This Saturday’s protest was initially announced as being in Newmarket Street, outside the office of Euan Stainbank, MP for Falkirk from noon.
However, last night the group announced on social media it would rally outside the office but then march to the Cladhan in Kemper Avenue at 1pm.
But as the group has not gone through the correct legal process of informing Falkirk Council 28 days in advance and seeking permission for the march, it is technically an illegal event.
Details have yet to be announced of what route the march will take but it is likely to disrupt traffic in and around the town centre at some stage.
Police Scotland say they have enough resources so the protest and march can pass off safely and “mitigate disruption” to the community.
At the earlier protest Stand up to Racism, Falkirk Trades Union Council and local residents organised a counter protest in support of the asylum seekers.
Following last night’s announcement of the march, Stand up to Racism and the Scottish Trade Union Congress called for “emergency mobilisation” to defend refugees at the Cladhan, as well as showing support for Falkirk anti-racists and trade unionists.
Their We All Belong to Falkirk rally will begin at noon.
Superintendent Lynsey Kidd said: “We are aware of planned protest activity due to take place in Falkirk town centre, on Saturday, August 30.
“We will have appropriate resources in place to ensure the safety of those in attendance and mitigate disruption to the wider community.”
A spokesperson for Falkirk Council confirmed that no public procession notification had been received.
Commenting previously on the planned protest outside his office, Euan Stainbank made it clear that the office is empty at weekends as he is out on constituency business.
He said: “We must fix the broken asylum system which has not worked for years for communities such as Falkirk or those seeking refuge from persecution.
"The Labour Government’s action within days of entering office to end the Tories Rwanda scheme, focus resources on processing claims and ending needless processing pauses will allow us to close all the Tory created asylum hotels in this Parliament.
"Further actions which I voted for, such as blocking refugee status for those convicted of a sexual offence have been taken forward in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill which was opposed by the Tories and Reform.
“This approach has reduced the asylum backlog by over 59,000 by the start of 2025.
“I know several people are concerned about disruption in the town centre this Saturday and I’ve been working to seek assurances from the authorities on their behalf. My door is always open to speak to people face to face about asylum policy or any other matter, running over 70 surgeries since elected last year. That is why I’m disappointed that the group behind this protest have yet to accept my offer of a meeting, despite our offer of a meeting being made within minutes of them getting in touch directly last week.”