Weston-super-Mare, a coastal town in Somerset with a population of approximately 83,000, has recently witnessed a heated debate surrounding a proposal to designate the town as a council of sanctuary for refugees. In March this year, Liberal Democrat councillor Caroline Reynolds put forward a motion. This motion was to ensure that a welcoming and inclusive environment is provided to asylum seekers. The proposal was quickly met with furious opposition from its own members of the reform UK party. As a result, it was finally left for dead in late September.
The outrage story dominated the scene as local police moved to suppress protests, drawing national media attention to the council meeting where the motion would be voted. On that night, some 200 protesters packed into the town hall. Student activist Oliver Hargreaves helped to plan the demonstration. As the chair of his local Reform branch, he made a name campaigning to stop more asylum seekers being placed in the town, saying it undermined the will of the majority of local taxpayers.
Hargreaves stated, “To have asylum seekers in the town is contrary to the wants and needs of the taxpayer majority of the town.” He had previously raised alarm bells over the cost that accommodating new asylum seekers would place on local council taxpayers.
The racial makeup of Weston-super-Mare is predominantly white, with 95% of residents identifying as such. Yet the 2021 census shows us that just 10.4% of the borough’s residents were born outside the UK. What’s worse, Asian, Black, Muslim, Sikh, and Jewish identifying individuals are all well under the national average. The number of asylum seekers now living in Weston-super-Mare is about 150, Hargreaves said.
In recent months, relations have escalated significantly. Avon and Somerset police launched an investigation into a suspected hate crime after a local café was vandalized with racist stickers overnight at the end of August. This incident highlighted the problems with community safety, lack of inclusivity, and community engagement.
In reaction to the toxic political climate, Labour MP Daniel Aldridge denounced Reform UK’s methods. He alleged that they were disseminating false information which in his opinion sought to harm the community’s reputation. “Their continued misinformation about our town feels increasingly damaging, like they want to trash our reputation,” Aldridge noted.
Maggie Filipova-Rivers, who represents a national organization supporting councils of sanctuary, emphasized that councils have the discretion to decide whether to pursue this designation. She proposed that a confusion over what something like this award would even mean and signify added to the contentious public discourse. “What we do feel is that some of the facts about what the award means have been misunderstood or lost in the debate,” she remarked.
Many residents took to social media to lament the city council’s refusal to pass the sanctuary proposal. Holly Law has called Weston-super-Mare home for the past 15 years. She conveyed her anger over the way the broader community had rejected her community. I wanted the council to make a symbolic stand and commit to doing everything possible to ensure that we’re as welcoming as possible. She confessed her chagrin that a few hundred councils have proudly proclaimed themselves cities or councils of sanctuary. Given the challenges that LGBTQ individuals face, it’s disappointing to know that this commitment was turned down flat.
Partly the opposition from Reform UK shaped their argument, focusing very much on fears about immigration and the state of the public finances. Hargreaves argued that it was unfair for local taxpayers to be shouldering the fiscal burdens of taking care of asylum seekers. He added, “Why are they here? They’ve come from multiple safe countries. I just don’t think it should just be a given that local taxpayers should be burdened with their presence.”
Despite these challenges, advocates of inclusivity insist that integration is still widely popular in Weston-super-Mare. Caroline Reynolds highlighted that feedback from constituents indicated a desire for a more welcoming community. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve had hundreds of people reach out to me, people have literally stopped me on the streets to tell me that this is not their city. It’s a loud minority,” she said.
Even as national tensions are flaring at the idea of changing immigration policy, the local political landscape is still changing. The town’s quaint historical appeal stands in contrast to the town’s current battle with issues of diversity and inclusion. Weston-super-Mare draws families and daytrippers with its vast sandy beach and classic Victorian pier. It also wrestles with its own set of unique demographic challenges.
These protests and this proposal have raised some key questions. Today, communities in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland face similar conversations as the UK takes steps to restrict immigration and asylum-seeking. With the political tussles continuing, the future of Weston-super-Mare’s laudable commitment to being a model of inclusivity is still an open question.