LETTER TO THE EDITOR: I feel worried every time I drop my daughter and her friends to West Quay and Southampton City Centre now. Does that make me far right?

Dear Editor,

I’m writing to express my deep concern about a matter that many local newspapers seems reluctant to address directly: the worries shared by many parents and grandparents in Southampton about the presence of undocumented, unprocessed illegal immigrants in our community.

As a working mother, I now feel even more uneasy than usual when dropping my daughter and her friends at West Quay. Who exactly is spending time there? It’s hard not to notice groups of men sitting outside the shopping centre on the benches, and I wonder why others don’t seem to share our concern for the fabric of our civilised society. If you venture up to Above Bar street you will see gangs of men sat outside the coffee shops on delivery bikes making an intimidating setting, can you imagine being 12 years old or 70 years old and facing this? I, for one, am grateful for those who have been protesting outside the Highfield Hotel, and I know many friends who feel the same. We all lead busy lives and not all of us can join in person, but we support the protest’s message.

What worries me further is the lack of reporting on incidents that do occur. For instance, one migrant was reportedly arrested inside the Highfield Hotel with photographs shown online, and two other youths were arrested near the protestors—one carrying a machete again with photos online. These events, and repeated police callouts to places like Avondale Court, rarely, if ever, make it into newspaper pages, maybe it doesnt fit the editorial line.

This is not just a Southampton issue. Nationally, there have been troubling incidents, the recent assault of two girls at the Bell Hotel in Epping that have shaken communities and raised urgent questions about the safety of placing asylum accommodation facilities into communities. Here in Southampton, the Highfield hotel is surrounded by schools, universities, and family homes. Surely it cannot be sensible to house unknown entrants to the country in such a location.

One local paper campaigned for safer streets recently, calling for more CCTV and policing, yet its recent coverage of the Highfield Hotel protests seems to ignore the safety concerns at the heart of the demonstrations. Protesters are often portrayed in a negative light, while the fears of women and children have been downplayed or ignored altogether. Almost trying to shut down debate and discussion.

This disconnect leaves many residents feeling unheard and mistrusted about demanding basic safety and respect for our communities. Protecting our neighbourhoods means listening to all voices and tackling safety issues head-on. But where is the community discussion when our community needs it most? Perhaps it time for local residents to start their own petition for CCTV and Safer Streets by holding weekly protests, oh it already happening thankfully.

Kind Regards,

A worried working mum