Around 100 anti-racism demonstrators marched through Portswood on Friday night (14/11/25) in a show of community unity.
The group gathered near Waitrose and marched to Highfield Lane in Portswood, where anti-asylum seeker protesters have been gathering every week for several months to protest outside a hotel housing asylum seekers.
The march was organised by Southampton Stand Up To Racism, who have been holding weekly counter-demonstrations outside the hotel.
In recent weeks, the anti-asylum seeker protesters have also marched up Portswood Highstreet. Steve Squibbs, an executive member of SSUTR explained that this was a significant factor in prompting the ‘unity demonstration’ on Friday.
Speaking at the event, he said: “For the last few weeks we’ve seen the so-called ‘Southampton Patriots’ march through Portswood and they’ve done so in an aggressive and intimidating way.
“It’s a diverse area of the city. We’ve got a group of mostly white men marching down the high street saying whose ‘streets, our streets’, shouting derogatory statements about Islam about Muslims and intimidating and approaching people of colour.
“We’re here to say ‘enough is enough’, to show that the community is united, we don’t accept that kind of racist intimidation. We stand united with refugees and migrants.”
Amongst those who had joined the march was a group of students.
One of the group, Peter, explained why he was there. “I’m a minority, born and raised in England, my parents were born and raised in England,” he said.
“I’ve never had a problem with being British and from a minority background until the past few years.
“I’ve never felt so unwelcome in my home country as I have recently because of these narratives about invaders and people poisoning our country, etc.
“These people aren’t just concerned patriots. They’ve harassed teenagers for their skin colour and they’re harassing asylum seekers which is a perfectly legal way of entering the UK.
“I think it’s important as a community that we give a message, not only to these people but to the other minority communities in Southampton who might be afraid to speak up for themselves, that we as a city don’t stand for this and we will offer you protection from harassment and racist abuse.”
Ben added: “It’s just not OK what they’re doing. They’re harassing people who’ve come here for safety and there’s a lot of misinformation about immigrants.
“Lots of protesters think what they’re doing is illegal, when these people are seeking asylum, which is completely legal under international law.
“But that misinformation has then led to violence and hatred and that’s just not acceptable and I think as a community we need to stand up against that and to stand up against division.”
George, also a student, said: “I’m here because I think they’re trying to push a narrative that immigration is a problem and I think it’s important that we fight that narrative so we can tackle the real problem, which is wealth inequality and rising cost of living.
“They’re blaming immigrants and causing hate and fear, not even wanting real change, it seems more wanting to scare immigrants.
“If they really care about real change they’d march outside the Civic Centre, not asylum seeker accommodation. It’s just become a rally of hate and I, for one, want to try to do something to stop it.”
Declan Clune, secretary of Southampton Trades Union Council, said that anti-asylum seeker protesters are blaming the wrong people for the problems in our society.
He said: “I’m here to support the ongoing campaign to push against the rhetoric that’s seeking to put all the ills of the country on the backs of migrants and refugees.
“Too many people in this country are looking down instead of up to where the problems of the country are.
“We need to keep that narrative going forward because they are losing traction, they will fizzle out at some point, and we need to be here to remind them that we stand against everything that they’re proposing.”
Liz was with a number of people with NEU flags, who’d come to represent their union. She said: “I’m with the union, the NEU, and the union affiliated to SUTR and we’ve come to represent the union and support the cause.”
Carson echoed the views of a number of those present, that anti-asylum seeker protesters are blaming the wrong group. He said: “I’m here because I want to stand up for refugees and speak out against them being scapegoated for all the things that are wrong in society, which are nothing to do with them.”
A woman who asked not to be named said: “The people in the hotel are documented asylum seekers, who have legally been placed here by the Home Office. If they understood that, they might stop protesting outside the hotel.”
At around 5.30 the march began to make its way peacefully up Portswood High Street, with demonstrators chanting ‘this is what community looks like’ and ‘refugees are welcome here’. Some shopkeepers came out of local businesses to offer waves of encouragement.
As the marchers turned the corner into Highfield Lane, 30 to 40 anti-asylum seeker protesters were spread out across the road and on both sides of the pavement. Many of them were shouting in a hostile manner at the marchers. There was a heavy police presence and the situation felt tense.
The unity demonstrators continued with their chants, whilst the anti-asylum seeker protesters chanted ‘stop the boats’.
Some of the anti-asylum seeker protesters walked through the unity demonstrators, filming people as they went.
The police had to intervene firmly to press the anti-asylum seeker protesters back to one side of the road. Once they had all returned to one pavement and the unity demonstrators were spread across the other side, the police had to speak to some anti-asylum seeker protesters who repeatedly crossed the road and tried to engage with the unity demonstrators.
The atmosphere remained tense, with anti-asylum seeker protesters shouting ‘come on Nazis, give us a song’ and ‘never trust a lefty with your kids,’ whilst an electronic banner was lit up with messages such as ‘lefty scum off our streets’, ‘have a wash you rats’ and a slur about Keir Starmer.
Many people in the unity demonstration didn’t want to give their details or have their photos taken for fear of retribution from the anti-asylum seeker protesters.
One woman explained ‘sometimes they find you – and I’ve got a child’.
Another woman said that several women she knew from the unity demonstrators had been harassed, adding that she was installing a security camera outside her home for this reason.
As the evening went on, the chants continued, but the atmosphere became less charged. Nevertheless, as members of the unity demonstration began to drift off, safety precautions were taken to make sure people left in groups, with strangers walking together for protection from the anti-asylum seeker protesters, for fear that the verbal abuse many directed towards the unity demonstrators would spill over into an act of violence.
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