Shadow minister posts picture of himself at protest outside Essex hotel that has become anti-immigration flashpoint
Robert Jenrick has been severely criticised by Labour after the shadow justice secretary was pictured at an anti-asylum rally in Essex attended by a veteran far-right activist.
Jenrick posted photos on X showing himself visiting the protest outside the Bell hotel in Epping, where police have been attacked and police vehicles vandalised by groups of men taking part in the demonstration. The MP met protesters including a woman with a T-shirt bearing the message: “Send them home.”
Eddy Butler, a well-known figure in far-right circles who was a key strategist in the rise of the British National party (BNP), can be seen wearing sunglasses in the background of one of the photos Jenrick shared after the visit.
It is not clear whether Jenrick met Butler, but the photo was seized on by far-right figures eager to exploit the protest, which they have heavily promoted.
