Home Office to appeal against Epping ruling

Crowd of 250, including far-right leaders, protest in Cheshunt

A growing crowd of about 250 people, including Epping protesters and the leaders of the far-right group Homeland, gathered outside the entrance of an asylum hotel in Cheshunt on Friday evening.

As Rule Britannia blared from loudspeakers, protesters paraded around a roundabout and briefly blocked the road by sitting on the tarmac. Some carried signs saying “I support Tommy Robinson”, “Two Tier Kier” and “Leave our kids alone”.

Among them was Callum Baker, a member of Homeland and one of the administrators of Epping Says No, a Facebook group with more than 1,500 members where demonstrations against the Bell Hotel have been co-ordinated.

He was spotted trying to recruit protesters outside the hotel, handing out fliers and asking them to help fight the appeal against the High Court’s ruling.

Hotel housing refugee families targeted

A banner reading “child refugees live here” was sabotaged by far-right protesters ahead of the demonstration in Chichester today.

Local volunteers had put up a knitted and stitched banner outside the hotel, which houses family groups only, on Thursday night before a planned anti-immigration demonstration.

By Friday morning it had been torn.

From a window of the hotel, a young girl peered briefly out at the protesters, who carried a banner reading “protect our children”.

Protesters gather in Chichester

Outside the Park Hotel in Chichester, about 100 anti-immigration protesters have gathered with flags, chanting “send them home”.

A heavy police presence separates them from counter-protesters, who carry signs reading “children live here”.

Faith, a counter-protester who asked not to give her full name for fear of reprisals, said volunteers who worked in the hotel confirmed no single men were housed there, and many of the children living in it attended local schools.

“On a normal evening, the courtyard in front is full of kids, it’s full of children playing,” she said. “They would be out playing if this wasn’t happening, but they’ve been told to stay inside.”

‘Altrincham protests could be hijacked’

Local Tory councillor Nathan Evans told The Times he supports the protests in Altrincham but fears they could be “hijacked by organisations we don’t support.”

A far-right demonstrator was arrested for “inviting support for a proscribed terror organisation”, police said, after a protest outside the Cresta Court hotel on July 28.

On August 1 Ryan Ferguson, a well-known far-right agitator, was arrested after a video circulated of a man at the scene, declaring the banned terrorist organisation National Action was “reforming”.

National Action was banned under the Terrorism Act in 2016. At the time, Theresa May described it as a “racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic organisation which … promotes a vile ideology”.

Protesters outside of the Cresta Court in Altrincham on Friday

PAUL COUSANS/ZENPIX

Far-right behind Altrincham protests, campaigners say

The regular protests outside the Cresta Court hotel in Altrincham are organised not by “concerned members of the community” but by individuals associated with far-right groups, according to claims by Stand Up to Racism.

Louise Holbrooks, an administrator of the “Altrincham Against the Cresta Court Hotel” Facebook page, shared a video on Friday with the caption “Altrincham belongs to the English”, tagging Ashlea Simon, the co-leader of far-right organisation Britain First.

Along with her mother Angela, Holbrooks has previously spearheaded campaigns against a local Islamic community centre and mosque, with support from former English Defence League and Britain First organisers.

Angela Holbrooks’s name appeared on a leaked list of British National Party members in 2008. A 2016 report by HOPE Not Hate documented how she had posted photographs of bacon next to chicken in a supermarket aisle with the caption: “Halal chicken and Christian bacon anyone”. The Holbrookses were contacted for comment.

Two men arrested after protest at asylum hotel

Two men were arrested on Thursday evening following a protest outside a hotel housing asylum seekers.

The men, both in their 20s, were arrested in the village of Bowthorpe, outside Norwich, Norfolk Police said. One man was alleged to be viewing “offensive material” and the other was alleged to have repeatedly sworn at members of the public.

Ahead of another planned protest in Bowthorpe on Sunday, Chief Inspector Nick Paling said: “The public will be aware of previous policing operations in response to protests in Norwich over the past few weeks.

“The majority of people attend in a peaceful manner and I would like to thank them for doing so.”

Labour’s asylum hotel claims false, fact checker finds

Claims that the number of hotels being used to house asylum seekers has halved since Labour came into government are false, according to Full Fact, a UK-based fact checking charity.

Dan Jarvis, the security minister, said Labour had cut asylum hotels from 400 to 200. The figures could be misleading as they do not take into account the number of hotels closed under the most recent Conservative government, Full Fact said.

At its peak, the Home Office said the number of hotels used to house migrants seeking asylum stood at “over 400 in summer 2023″.

But when Sir Keir Starmer was elected in July 2024, only 213 hotels were in use, according to a written parliamentary question from March 2025.

Gender violence hijacked by anti-migrant agenda, campaigners say

Some protests have included demonstrators holding signs referencing women’s safety, but campaigners including Rape Crisis and Refuge have warned that conversations about violence against women and girls are being “hijacked by an anti-migrant agenda”.

They said it fuels divisions and harms survivors.

A coalition of more than 100 women’s organisations wrote to ministers to say they had been “alarmed in recent weeks by an increase in unfounded claims made by people in power, and repeated in the media, that hold particular groups as primarily responsible for sexual violence”.

They added: “This not only undermines genuine concerns about women’s safety, but also reinforces the damaging myth that the greatest risk of gender-based violence comes from strangers.”

Wave of protests planned at migrant hotels this weekend

Asylum hotels across the country will be hit by a wave of anti-immigration protests this weekend, The Times understands.

Dozens of demonstrations were being planned on Thursday as it emerged that a record 111,000 people had claimed asylum in the UK during Sir Keir Starmer’s first year in office.

At least 27 protests have been organised after a High Court judge ordered the removal of migrants from the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, on Tuesday, with many communities hoping to replicate the results of the landmark ruling in their own areas by taking to the streets.

Read the full story here

‘Asylum seekers feel hunted on British streets’

Demonstrations in recent weeks have left some of those seeking asylum feeling “afraid to go outside”, according to Asylum Matters, which works with asylum seekers and refugees.

Many feel “hunted” amid scenes of “hate and intimidation on Britain’s streets”, the Freedom from Torture charity said.

Louise Calvey, executive director of Asylum Matters, said: “We’re seeing people seeking asylum feeling afraid to go outside, in the country where they were meant to be safe.

“Children watching crowds of adults shout at them to leave, when they have nowhere else to go. People working in charities supporting refugees facing personal threats, having to increase their security.”

Home secretary: We are trying to avoid the chaos of 2022

The government’s appeal has been launched to avoid other councils having to take in migrants currently staying in Epping’s Bell Hotel, Yvette Cooper has said.

The home secretary said she would challenge the High Court’s decision to avoid it “creating problems for other areas or local councils”.

She said “piecemeal court decisions” risked a “return to the kind of chaos which led to so many hotels being opened in the first place”.

Cooper added: “What we cannot have, is a replica of the chaotic and disorderly situation that we saw under the previous government in 2022, when 140 extra hotels were opened in the space of six months because they lost control of the system.”

Security minister: We will close all asylum hotels

Dan Jarvis doubles down on government pledge

Anti-immigration protesters gather in Portsmouth

Protesters gather in Portsmouth on Friday to demand an end to asylum hotels

ANDREW CROFT/SOLENT NEWS

One poster appears to read “Portsmouth homes for Portsmouth people”

ANDREW CROFT/SOLENT NEWS

Many of those in attendance carried Union Jack and England flags

ANDREW CROFT/SOLENT NEWS

Demonstrators with Stand Up To Racism held a counter-protest

ANDREW CROFT/SOLENT NEWS

Cheshunt could follow Epping in bid to close asylum hotel

Lewis Cocking, the local Tory MP for Broxbourne, wrote to the home secretary ahead of the High Court ruling this week to raise concerns from “many residents” that migrants may be moved to Cheshunt’s asylum hotel.

“I am writing to you to firstly asked whether any migrants have been transferred from Epping to Cheshunt, and secondly to ask that in the event of the Bell Hotel being closed, you will provide a guarantee that the migrants there will not be transferred to the hotel in Cheshunt,” he wrote.

Cocking clarified on Friday that “I am not aware of any asylum seekers who resided in the Bell Hotel being transferred”.

He added that he supports Broxbourne Council’s commitment to follow Epping’s example, by launching a similar legal challenge to close their asylum hotel.

Fears in Cheshunt that migrants will be re-housed from Epping

Protesters are gearing up to demonstrate outside an asylum hotel in Cheshunt amid concerns that it could be used to re-home ousted migrants from Epping.

Barriers have been erected around the building, which is only a 20 minute drive from The Bell Hotel — the epicentre of anti-immigration unrest this summer.

Some protesters who took part in demonstrations at Epping are expected to turn their attention to Cheshunt this evening.

They will also be joined by the Pink Ladies, a anti-migrant group of dozens of women who say they are concerned local mothers, sisters and grandmothers. They insist they are “not far-right, just on the right side of history”.

Alleged ‘Nazi salute’ fuels Portsmouth counter-protest

Simon Magorian, a local spokesman for Stand Up to Racism in Portsmouth, said the number of counter-protesters had been boosted by an incident two weeks prior, when the leader of Ukip, Nick Tenconi, was accused of making a Nazi-like salute at a protest outside the hotel.

He said: “To see someone doing Nazi salutes and people cheering whilst waving Union Jacks, it’s just not right. Do they really want to remind people what the Luftwaffe did to Portsmouth? It’s beyond comprehension.”

Tenconi has said he “completely rejects” the allegation he made a Nazi salute, saying the gesture was instead an amalgamation of a Roman victory salute and a “power fist”.

He added: “There is nothing Nazi-esque about the power fist symbol. If anything historically it has been used as a symbol to demonstrate countering oppression.”

Nick Tenconi shared a video on X that showed him making the controversial gesture in Portsmouth

Epping councillor ‘disappointed’ by government’s appeal

The councillor Holly Whitbread, whose Epping West and Rural ward covers the area in which the Bell Hotel is located, described the Home Office’s appeal on asylum hotels as “deeply disappointing”.

“It was dreadful when the government tried to intervene in the case on Tuesday,” said Whitbread, who is responsible for finance and economic development at Epping Forest district council.

“Obviously, they had time to get their ducks in a row and they were hugely disorganised, and then to take this further action today is deeply disappointing. I hope that the Court of Appeal will make the right decision in upholding the decision of the High Court.”

The Conservative councillor accused the government of ignoring community concerns over the Bell Hotel and its impact on the area.

Protesters calling for the closure of the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, earlier this month

ENRY NICHOLLS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Owner of Epping asylum hotel to appeal court ruling

Somani Hotels, the owner of the Bell Hotel in Epping, will appeal against a court order blocking the use of the hotel as accommodation for asylum seekers, the company’s lawyers have confirmed.

“Somani Hotels Ltd has instructed its solicitors to appeal the injunction orders of Mr Justice Eyre. There is no further comment at this time,” a spokesperson said.

Insults traded at Portsmouth demonstrations

The scene in Portsmouth quickly descended into slinging insults. A group of right-wing protesters started chanting: “You stink, go have a wash.”

After another anti-immigration protester said asylum seekers were taking jobs, a counter protester called back: “What job are you doing? It’s Friday afternoon.”

Government appeal ‘completely wrong’, say Tories

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said the Home Office’s appeal over asylum hotels was “completely wrong”.

“The Epping Bell Hotel injunction has been a victory for local people, led by a Conservative council working hard for their community,” he said. “This is the difference: Conservatives in local government deliver.

“In opposition, Labour worked hand-in-glove with activist lawyers to sabotage Conservative immigration plans. In government, nothing has changed.

“It is completely wrong that the Labour government is taking legal action to keep open the Bell Hotel.”

Philp said the Starmer government was not listening to the public or the courts. “Instead of trying to keep illegal immigrants in expensive hotels, the Conservatives would remove all illegal arrivals, put in place a real deterrent and ensure towns like Epping are never put in this position again,” he said.

Asylum applications up 14% on previous 12 months

Migrants off Gravelines in northern France this month

SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

A record 111,000 people claimed asylum in the UK during Sir Keir Starmer’s first year in office after a surge in small boat crossings.

Applications for refugee status rose by 14 per cent in the year to June compared with the previous 12 months and the use of hotels by migrants also increased.

New migration figures revealed there were 111,084 asylum claims — nearly double the level in 2021 and 8 per cent more than the previous peak in 2002. It is the highest number of asylum applications for any 12-month period since records began in 2001.

• Read in full: Record 111,000 claims from asylum seekers in Labour’s first year

Protests planned in Liverpool, Kent and Bristol

Ukip has organised a “mass deportation march” in Liverpool for Saturday, while a “traditionally English” picnic will be held in Kent to “unite the patriots”.

A group named “Bristol Patriots” is also preparing a large protest on Saturday, sharing a video on Facebook showing a shipment of hundreds of flags and signs reading: “Stop the boats. Deport illegals now.”

The organisers said: “Bristol is about to be BIG this weekend.”

We can’t ‘wait for an attack’, says Trafford councillor

The leader of the Conservative group on the Labour-run Trafford council said local leaders should not “wait for an attack” before trying to close asylum hotels down.

Nathan Evans criticised his political opponents for failing to “seize the opportunity” by starting legal proceedings against a hotel in Altrincham, which has been the site of weekly protests, including today. “The hotel is near to schools, near to residential homes, near to a town centre. Are we waiting for an attack before the council do something?” he asked.

Evans is one of many local politicians sympathetic to the protests but wary of directly joining in himself in case it gets “hijacked by organisations we don’t support”. Nonetheless he offered to walk a Times reporter “to the edge of the protest”.

Chants of ‘get them out’ in Portsmouth

Anti-immigration protesters outside Portsmouth’s guildhall

GARETH FULLER/PA

Outside Portsmouth’s guildhall, a group of about 70 anti-immigration protesters have gathered with a speaker playing Rule, Britannia! and flags.

The group, who are chanting “get them out”, are opposed by a similar number of anti-racism demonstrators. Police have been keeping the two groups, which remain peaceful, separate.

A counter-protest is also taking place in the city

GARETH FULLER/PA

An English flag has been hung from the balcony of the guildhall, and one woman is carrying a sign saying “homes for Portsmouth people, not strangers”.

What did the High Court rule?

The Home Office appeal comes after the High Court granted Epping Forest district council a temporary injunction on Tuesday that blocked asylum seekers from being housed in the hotel from September 12.

The local authority had sought legal action after the accommodation site had been at the centre of protests in recent weeks after an asylum seeker was charged with allegedly trying to kiss a 14-year-old girl, which he denies.

Before the judgment was handed down on Tuesday, barristers for the Home Office asked to intervene in the case, citing the “substantial impact” caused to the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, in performing her legal duties to asylum seekers.

They argued moving asylum seekers in the short period would cause “particular acute difficulties” for the government, but their bid was dismissed.

Since the injunction was granted, councils across the country controlled by Labour, the Conservatives and Reform UK are investigating whether they could also pursue legal challenges against asylum hotels.

Skegness hotels ‘for tourists, not asylum seekers’

Craig Leyland, leader of East Lindsey district council, said any hotels in the holiday hotspot of Skegness should be used by tourists, rather than asylum seekers.

Leyland, a Conservative councillor, said that there were 100 asylum seekers across the district, including 70 in one hotel in Skegness.

“So relatively low numbers, but the impact on community cohesion is still a concern both for the residents of these hostels and also for our residents,” he told Times Radio. “It’s a tourist venue, Skegness, and we want to make sure that those hotels are used for tourists.”

Leyland said that any legal challenge by East Lindsey district council against the asylum hotel in Skegness would be weighed against “public interest”.

He added that he was concerned about the “potential for violence and disruption” at protests this weekend, “especially when we’re in the middle of our … tourism high season.”

At least eight demonstrations expected today

Protests against asylum hotels are expected to take place today in at least eight towns and cities including Cardiff, Chichester, Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Leeds, Orpington, Cheshunt and Altrincham.

Another 14 protests — in villages, towns and cities including Hawley, Cannock, Nottingham, Bristol, Newcastle, Tamworth, Wakefield, Liverpool, Oldham, Exeter, Oxford, Perth and Aberdeen — are planned for Saturday. Two more are being organised in Manchester and Dudley.

Stand Up to Racism has co-ordinated counter-protests for the planned rallies on Friday and is expected to hold their own marches over the weekend too.

Labour ‘will honour pledge to close asylum hotels’

Dan Jarvis vowed the Labour government would meet its 2024 manifesto commitment to “end asylum hotels”.

Asked whether he was “worried about any copycat protests” after the High Court’s decision this week, the security minister said: “We’ve made a very clear commitment that we’re going to close all of the asylum hotels. That was a manifesto commitment that we stood on and we will honour.

Dan Jarvis

IAN DAVIDSON/ALAMY LIVE NEWS

“We’re clearing up the legacy that we inherited from the previous government but the closures of these hotels need to be done in an ordered and managed way.”

Home Office to appeal against Epping ruling

Police officers gather near the Bell Hotel in Epping before a demonstration last month

JORDAN PETTITT/PA

The Home Office will appeal against the High Court’s refusal to allow it to intervene in the case of a hotel used to house asylum seekers in Epping, the security minister Dan Jarvis confirmed.

• What does the Epping council decision mean for migrant hotels?

He told broadcasters: “This government will close all asylum hotels and we will clear up the mess that we inherited from the previous government.

“We’ve made a commitment that we will close all of the asylum hotels by the end of this parliament, but we need to do that in a managed and ordered way. And that’s why we’ll appeal this decision.”