Last Saturday the former Cladhan Hotel in Kemper Avenue, now being used by the Home Office to house asylum seekers, was the scene for two rival protests. Save Our Future & Our Kids Future is a local group set up by Falkirk father Connor Graham and said it would protest from midday over “uncontrolled immigration”, as well as concerns over the safety of women and children in the community. Stand up to Racism, Falkirk Trades Union Council and local residents then announced they would hold a counter protest beginning an hour earlier. Initially police officers were able to keep both sides apart on either side of the road while vehicles could still pass. However, as the numbers grew, they were forced to close off the road as people spilled on to the carriageway. On Wednesday, the Save Our Future group said its next protest would be at noon on Saturday, August 30 outside the constituency office of Falkirk Labour MP Euan Stainbank. Following Saturday’s protest, the MP said: “We must fix the broken asylum system for communities such as Falkirk and those fleeing conflict from across the world. "Refocusing resources away from Rwanda and onto processing will allow us to end the use of asylum hotels, which were set up by the Tories and many of their now rebranded Reform colleagues. This approach has already seen the asylum backlog reduced by over 59,000 by the start of 2025 compared to if we had kept the Tories broken system. "These hotels don't work for host communities or those who stay there and their use will be ended by this Government." Following on from this week’s decision by the High Court in England to grant a district council with a temporary injunction to block asylum seekers from being housed at a hotel in Essex, the group has said it is now calling on Falkirk Council “to follow suit to shut down the hotels currently housing illegal immigrants here, and to reverse any plans for HMOs that put further strain on our communities”. On Tuesday, the judge in the case ruled in favour of Epping Forest District Council after it argued that the hotel had become a public safety risk because of its alleged planning law breach by ceasing to be a true hotel. The case returns to court in October, when a judge will have to decide whether The Bell Hotel has unlawfully changed how it is being used. A Falkirk Council spokesperson said: “We are aware of the decision and are currently considering its implications.” A spokesperson for Stand up to Racism said Saturday's event was “a dangerous wake up call for all of us”. He added: “The events in Falkirk show the urgent need for trade unions, community groups, and anti-racist activists to unite and mobilise against the far-right. The local community’s courage prevented violence today, proving that when we stand together, we can defend our communities and hold them back.” Save Our Future has always maintained it is not political and has distanced itself from many of the banners and some of the comments made by speakers on Saturday.