Sunderland Councillor Dominic McDonough has called on the Government to “stop sneering and start listening” to Britons amid fears of further anti-migration protests.
As the city marks one year since violent disorder took place following the triple-murder attack in Southport, McDonough told GB News that locals don’t feel “listened to” by Labour.
As protests against the use of migrant hotels are being sparked up and down the country, McDonough reflected on what has changed since the 2024 protest, where a Citizens Advice bureau was set on fire and police officers were injured, with several people were arrested.
McDonough told GB News that residents are “still feeling those frustrations” felt at the time of the 2024 riots.
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Sunderland councillor Dominic McDonough has warned Government to ‘stop sneering and start listening’ amid fears of further protests
He explained: “People feel really forgotten. In the riots, there were troublemakers who just wanted to destroy things, absolutely, 100 per cent, but there was also people who were really frustrated.
“They see services getting worse, they have to pay more taxes, there’s less money in their pocket, they’re really struggling. So I think some of this was through frustration, and unfortunately we’re still seeing that frustration.”
Noting the City of Sanctuary scheme for asylum seekers, McDonough said that he opposed the scheme at the time, but it went ahead “without a plan”, leaving a lack of services for residents and a backlog for social housing lasting over a year.
He said: “I spoke out against the scheme when it came to council a couple of years ago, and not necessarily because we don’t want people to come to this city, this is a very welcoming city. We don’t mind helping people, but there was no plan put in place.
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Protesters took to the streets of Sunderland in August 2024 following the Southport attack
“I warned that we needed a plan for housing. We needed a plan for school places, we needed a plan for doctor’s places, and that was never put in place.
“On the face of it, the sanctuary scheme was a really nice thing. It was saying welcome to our city, it will be absolutely great. But I warned that there was no plan in place, and that’s why we’re struggling.”
Stressing the impact the scheme has had on the community after welcoming more than 800 asylum seekers in to the area, McDonough told GB News: “Unfortunately, people living in the city are now really annoyed because they’re struggling to get doctor’s appointments, they’re struggling to get schools places, and they see this as one of the reasons.
“As a city, they don’t feel listened to and actually they feel sneered at often. And if there is concerns about immigration, they’re shouted down, and that’s really dangerous because if you don’t listen to people, they’re going to turn around and make themselves heard in other ways, and that’s really dangerous. We need to listen to people and stop sneering at them.”
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McDonough told GB News that branding concerned locals ‘far-right’ is ‘dangerous’
Reflecting on the disorder a year ago, McDonough told host Martin Daubney he hopes “that trouble doesn’t happen again”, but locals do have “legitimate concerns” about migration.
McDonough concluded: “There’s people here who have legitimate concerns, they wanted to be listened to, and for the Prime Minister to come out and say things about being far-right, once again, it’s sneering at people.
“And that makes people feel belittled, unheard and really frustrated. It’s dangerous, quite frankly. The Labour council turned around last week and they announced that they’re not accepting any more asylum seekers into the city. Does that mean they’ve listened? I’m not so sure.
“I hope this doesn’t happen again, but politicians need to start listening and stop sneering.”