Crowds Protest Against Brunei Anti-Gay Laws Outside Dorchester Hotel
6 April 2019, 16:42
Emily Thornberry Speaks To Crowds Protesting Against Brunei Anti-Gay Laws Outside Dorchester Hotel
Emily Thornberry calls out "solidarity" with crowds protesting against Brunei's anti-gay laws outside the Dorchester Hotel.
Crowds gathered outside the Dorchester Hotel in central London in protest against Brunei's anti-gay laws.
Dozens of people carried placards and banners calling for solidarity outside the hotel, which is owned by the Sultan of Brunei.
It comes as the south-eastern nation implemented sharia law, meaning that anybody found guilty of gay sex could be stoned to death.
But a group of celebrities, including George Clooney and Ellen DeGeneres, have called for a boycott of the properties owned by the kingdom of Brunei.
Labour MP and Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry was at the protest in London, and called for Brunei to be thrown out of the Commonwealth.
"They should be chucked out of the commonwealth," she told crowds.
"We say solidarity. It is not right to hate those who simply love," she added.
TV Choice has also announced a boycott if the hotel for its awards ceremony, tweeting that an announcement for this year's venue will be made "in due course".
Travel company Virgin Australia has announced it is ending a deal with Royal Brunei Airlines, and STA Travel also declared a similar boycott on its twitter page.
In response to the calls for boycott of the Dorchester Hotel, the hotel said that it has had to "deactivate" social media pages for its hotel because of abuse made against staff.
A statement read: "Dorchester Collection is an inclusive and diverse company and does not tolerate any form of discrimination.
"Although we believe in open and transparent communication, we have reluctantly deactivated our hotel social pages due to personal abuse directed at our employees for whom we have a duty of care.
"Our corporate social media pages remain in place.
"Dorchester Collection's Code emphasises equality, respect and integrity in all areas of our operation, and strongly values people and cultural diversity amongst our guests and employees."
