Recap: The High Court case between the Home Office and Epping Council
Setting the backdrop for the weekend of unrest is a crucial High Court case being fought between the government and an English council.
On Tuesday, Epping Forest District Council won an interim High Court injunction to stop asylum seekers being housed at The Bell Hotel, arguing it had become a “feeding ground for unrest” in recent weeks after a series of violent protests resulted in multiple arrests and saw police officers injured.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper made a last-minute attempt on Tuesday to halt their removal, arguing that other councils would make similar applications for migrant accommodation in their areas.
However, Mr Justice Eyre dismissed her application and has given the council until 12 September to move asylum seekers out of the hotel. Somani Hotels Limited, which runs the hotel, can apply to the Court of Appeal to try to reverse the decision.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp described the ruling as “a moment of relief for the people of Epping”, while Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said it was “a victory for the mums and dads” in the local area, “who just want their children to be safe”.
Alex Croft23 August 2025 10:20
Explained: How much is the government paying to house asylum seekers in hotels?Explained: How much is the government paying to house asylum seekers in hotels?
Alex Croft23 August 2025 10:02
When are anti-racism protests scheduled for?
Stand Up to Racism, the anti-racism group which is organising more than a dozen counter-protests against the anti-migrant groups, has released the timings of a number of its protests on Saturday.
It is unclear exactly when the anti-migrant protests are due to start, but they are expected to take place at similar times.
Here are the timings and locations of the anti-racism events:
11am, Perth – Radisson Hotel12pm, Bristol – Castle Park12pm, Exeter – Hampton by Hilton12pm, Tamworth – Holiday Inn Express12:30pm, Cannock – Bandstand1pm, Liverpool – St George’s Hall1pm, Mold – Mold Bus Station1pm, Newcastle – New Bridge Hotel1pm, Nuneaton – Town Hall2pm, Wakefield – Cedar Court Hotel3pm, London – Britannia Canary Wharf6pm, Westhill (Aberdeen) – Hampton by Hilton. 
(Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)
Alex Croft23 August 2025 09:45
Comment | Grotesque hypocrisy of politicians is making police work more difficult
The already daunting task facing officers this weekend is made infinitely more challenging by the grotesque hypocrisy of populist politicians who, until they were voted out at the last general election, had been arguing for – and swiftly advancing – the very thing they are now denouncing.
Then there is the rabble rousing rhetoric of online agitators who seem to care little for the truth or for the consequences of their words. Threats of violence have reportedly compelled some refugee support organisations to install safe rooms in their offices, or to move locations, or to close altogether.
And the officers who will be dealing with this incendiary mess are the same ones who would otherwise be policing local neighbourhoods. Despite what politicians of all parties would frequently have you believe, there are no boxes of additional constables kept in reserve for combustible weekends such as these. At a time when local people are expressing significant concern about local crime and antisocial behaviour, their local officers won’t be available to answer their calls.
Alex Croft23 August 2025 09:25
Home Office to appeal High Court asylum hotel ruling
The Home Office will seek to 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 has said.
Dan Jarvis said the Government would appeal against the decision on Friday, which if successful would open the way for a wider appeal against a temporary injunction blocking the Home Office from using the Bell Hotel as asylum accommodation.
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.”
The move comes after the High Court granted Epping Forest District Council the temporary injunction on Tuesday that blocked asylum seekers from being housed in the hotel from September 12.
The local authority sought legal action after the accommodation site had been at the centre of protests in recent weeks after an asylum seeker was charged with trying to kiss a 14-year-old girl, which he denies.
Alex Croft23 August 2025 09:08
Britain’s migration crisis: What the latest numbers really show
The number of asylum seekers housed in government hotels has risen in the first year under Labour, piling further pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to get a grip on the growing number of people making dangerous Channel crossings.
The data follows a High Court ruling on Tuesday that banned the use of the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, for housing asylum seekers after lawyers argued it had become a “feeding ground for unrest” following a string of violent protests near the site.
As the government braces for a fresh round of legal action from councils seeking similar bans in their areas, new Home Office figures reveal that the number of people claiming asylum in the year to June rose to a record 111,000, while the number of small boats crossing the Channel continues to grow.
The Independent’s social affairs correspondent Holly Bancroft and data correspondent Alicja Hagopian take a look at the reality of migration figures in the UK:
Alex Croft23 August 2025 08:56
Watch: Rival protest groups face off during migrant hotel demonstrations across the UK Rival protest groups face off during migrant hotel demonstrations across the UK
Alex Croft23 August 2025 08:41
Farage unveils Reform UK’s ‘mass deportation’ plan for small boat arrivals
Nigel Farage will publish plans for mass deportations of asylum seekers who arrive in the UK on small boats which his Reform UK party would seek to put in place if it entered government, PA is reporting.
Arresting asylum seekers on arrival, automatic detention and forced deportation to countries such as Afghanistan and Eritrea are among the proposals reported to be announced on Tuesday.
They also include deals with third countries, which could include reviving the Conservatives’ controversial Rwanda policy, and sending asylum seekers to British overseas territories such as Ascension Island as a “fallback” option.
Mr Farage said the plans could see hundreds of thousands of people deported and five charter flights taking off from the UK every day.
The first step of Reform UK’s plans would be to leave the European Convention on Human Rights and to scrap the Human Rights Act, followed by legislation to bar those who come to the UK on small boats from claiming asylum.
“The aim of this legislation is mass deportations,” Clacton MP Mr Farage told The Times. “There is only one way to stop people coming into Britain and that is to detain them and deport them.”
Alex Croft23 August 2025 08:29
‘Get them out’ chanted at anti-migrant protests in south east London on Friday
Several anti-migrant protests were held on Friday, including outside an asylum hotel in south east London.
Protesters were heard shouting slogans such as “Get them out” and “Save our children” while others held Union and England flags beside the TLK hotel in Orpington.
Meanwhile, counter-protesters who had marched to the hotel were holding banners and Stand Up To Racism placards which read ‘Refugees welcome, Stop the far right’.
A large police cordon was formed in between the two groups and the hotel. The Metropolitan Police later confirmed that no arrests were made.
It comes after tensions around the use of the hotels for asylum seekers spiked earlier this week.
On Tuesday, the High Court granted Epping Forest District Council the temporary injunction to remove asylum seekers from the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, from September 12.
Alex Croft23 August 2025 08:26
In pictures: Friday’s protests and counter-protests in Orpingto
New anti-migrant demonstrations are being advertised at 26 hotels housing asylum seekers over the weekend (PA)
Protesters with police as people take part in anti-migrant protests near TLK Apartments and Hotel in Orpington on Friday (Jordan Pettitt/PA) (PA Wire)
Stand Up to Racism campaigners are organising counter-protests (Pa)
Alex Croft23 August 2025 08:23