Shabana Mahmood has described the anti-asylum activist Daniel Thomas as “a far-right and outright racist” who will feel “the full force of the law” if his organisation commits crimes near contested asylum sites such as Piddington.
asserted
organisation → describe → Piddington
In an interview with the Guardian, the home secretary also “wanted to reassure” concerned villagers that asylum seekers due to move in to a neighbouring former defence site would not “put pressure” on local resources because they would be given “self-contained facilities”.
asserted
they → want → facilities
Her intervention came after Thomas, a convicted criminal known as “Danny Tommo” and the co-founder of the Patriot Platform, said thousands of his masked followers could descend “for days” on to the Oxfordshire village to prevent male asylum seekers being moved in.
uncertain
seekers → come → village
At the launch of a crackdown on knife crime in Birmingham on Thursday, Mahmood said she wanted to distinguish between legitimate concerns felt by Piddington residents over a large-scale asylum centre and extremists who were “hijacking” community concerns.
asserted
who → say → concerns
“I understand the anxiety of local people when they’re about to see a change to their community.
asserted
they → understand → community
But it is important to distinguish that anxiety, where reasonable people can have a conversation, and the far right and outright racists like Danny Thomas walking into town, hijacking an issue and then using that to divide our communities,” she said.
asserted
she → distinguish → communities
And where they break the law, they will face the full force of the law.”
asserted
they → break → law
Piddington’s local population registered their opposition to the proposed asylum facility on Wednesday, casting 285 votes against 26 in a symbolic ballot to leave the UK and seek self-determination.
asserted
population → register → determination
The parish has been approached by hundreds of other town and village councillors and residents for advice on replicating the campaign, which was backed by the Conservatives, Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats.
asserted
which → approach → Conservatives
Thomas visited Piddington the day after the vote.
asserted
Thomas → visit → vote
He was dressed in a grey suit and white shirt and was not accompanied by people wearing balaclavas.
asserted
He → dress → balaclavas
Joe Marshall, a parish councillor, said it was a private visit and Thomas was due to be given a tour of the village and a cup of tea by a resident.
asserted
Thomas → say → resident
We will engage with them and walk them around the village and have a cup of tea,” he said.
asserted
he → engage → tea
“We have also had an open invitation to Reform, Labour, Conservatives and Restore to visit.”
asserted
We → have → Reform
Marshall said it was not clear that villagers would want security assistance from men in balaclavas, if it were offered.
asserted
it → say → balaclavas
“This is a mild-mannered place,” he said.
asserted
he → say → ?
Thomas visited the village hall briefly and later visited the entrance to the Ministry of Justice camp where the asylum seekers are scheduled to be housed.
asserted
seekers → visit → camp
In an interview broadcast on YouTube with Dan Wootton, he said he had spoken to three residents.
asserted
he → broadcast → residents
“The people we are meeting are just normal mothers, normal grandmothers, normal men,” Thomas said.
asserted
Thomas → meet → ?
“We have to start somewhere.
asserted
We → have → ?
We are going to put a legal, lawful plan in place to help this community in a way that has never been done before.”
asserted
that → go → way
Asked how she would respond to Piddington residents after the vote, Mahmood said: “I want to reassure the residents of Piddington that actually our experience from other large sites where we already have, asylum seekers accommodated, whether that’s in Wethersfield or Crowborough, is that putting all facilities on to one site is actually the best way to manage pressures for local communities.
asserted
putting → ask → communities
“Our experience of other large sites where we are housing asylum seekers is that we’re able to put on that site more of the facilities that asylum seekers need.
asserted
seekers → house → that
It’s a relatively self-contained facility, and the knock-on pressure to those local areas, I don’t think we’re going to see.
asserted
we → ’ → areas
Mahmood said she understood the anxiety of people in the countryside towards large groups of asylum seekers, but she pointed out that many people in inner-city areas such as her Birmingham constituency had similar concerns.
asserted
people → say → concerns
“I do understand the anxiety that people feel, when they’re about to see a change in their community or they are reading misinformation on the internet, or when they’re just concerned that a village is about to have a facility nearby that maybe they think may pose them some challenges,” she said.
uncertain
she → understand → challenges
“I also hear that concern from communities such as mine, where there are large numbers of HMOs [houses of multiple occupation] and accommodation in which asylum seekers are held as well.
asserted
seekers → hear → which
Not just in the countryside or in those sorts of areas, but in inner-city areas as well.”
Thomas and his supporters recently coordinated disruptive protests in Dover and Portsmouth, where masked supporters blocked roads and attempted to intercept newly arrived people.
asserted
supporters → coordinate → people
On Thursday, Mahmood summoned police chiefs and urged them to improve their intelligence gathering and use all powers at their disposal, including new laws that allow for a blanket ban on face coverings at a designated location.
asserted
that → summon → location
Hampshire police then sought to impose the ban on Saturday as an anti-asylum demonstration took place in Thomas’s home town of Portsmouth.
asserted
demonstration → seek → Portsmouth
Thomas urged his supporters to stay away.
asserted
Thomas → urge → supporters
A former bodyguard for Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, Thomas established his anti-immigration movement after serving a prison sentence for attempted kidnapping.
asserted
Thomas → know → kidnapping
In an interview with Robinson, broadcast on Friday night, he said: “How powerful would it be if 5,000 men … surround the [Piddington] camp.
asserted
men → broadcast → camp
We take tents.
asserted
We → take → tents
We sit there for days and we don’t let them [the asylum seekers] get in.
asserted
them → sit → days
And then we reinforce [the blockade] with members from the north, from Scotland, from Ireland.”
asserted
we → reinforce → Ireland
In the interview, Thomas said he was not racist and welcomed people of other nationalities into his organisation.
asserted
he → say → organisation
That is the stance we have.
asserted
we → have → ?
I have friends that are black.”
asserted
that → have → friends
Thomas has been approached for comment.
asserted
Thomas → approach → comment
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
