Home Office to appeal against high court’s Epping 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, security minister Dan Jarvis said.
Jarvis has said closing hotels housing asylum seekers must be done “in a managed and ordered way” as he unveiled government plans to challenge the high court’s decision related to the Bell hotel in Epping, Essex.
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.
Updated at 07.32 EDT
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Closing asylum hotels must be ‘orderly’, says Cooper as government plans to appeal against Epping hotel court ruling
Closing asylum hotels must be “orderly” rather than through “piecemeal court decisions”, the home secretary has said as the government plans to appeal against a court ruling blocking the use of an Epping hotel.
The Home Office will seek to appeal against the high court’s refusal to allow it to intervene in the case, and to then further appeal against the temporary injunction.
On Friday, Yvette Cooper said ministers are working to close hotels housing asylum seekers “as swiftly as possible” as part of an “orderly” programme that avoids creating problems for other areas, reports the PA news agency.
Cooper said:
We agree with communities across the country that all asylum hotels need to close, including the Bell hotel, and we are working to do so as swiftly as possible as part of an orderly, planned and sustained programme that avoids simply creating problems for other areas or local councils as a result of piecemeal court decisions or a return to the kind of chaos which led to so many hotels being opened in the first place.
That is the reason for the Home Office appeal in this case, to ensure that going forward, the closure of all hotels can be done in a properly managed way right across the country – without creating problems for other areas and local councils.
Cooper reiterated Labour’s manifesto commitment to end the use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers. She also accused the previous Conservative government of presiding over a “chaotic and disorderly situation” in 2022 that saw “140 extra hotels were opened in the space of six months because they lost control of the system”.
Share‘Utterly horrifying’: Lammy accuses Israeli government of causing ‘man-made catastrophe’ as famine declared in Gaza City
Foreign secretary David Lammy has described the declaration of famine in Gaza City as “utterly horrifying” as he accused the Israeli government of causing a “man-made catastrophe”, reports the PA news agency.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said on Friday that famine is occurring in Gaza City and could spread farther south. It comes after weeks of warnings by aid groups that restrictions on aid were leading to starvation among Palestinians.
In a statement on Friday afternoon, Lammy said:
The confirmation of famine in Gaza City and the surrounding neighbourhood is utterly horrifying and is wholly preventable.
The Israeli government’s refusal to allow sufficient aid into Gaza has caused this man-made catastrophe. This is a moral outrage.
The IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) report makes clear the sickening consequences, especially for children.
The government of Israel can and must immediately act to stop the situation deteriorating any further. It must immediately and sustainably allow unhindered food, medical supplies, fuel, and all types of aid to reach those who so desperately need them.
It is the first time that the IPC has confirmed a famine in the Middle East. The IPC report said that more than half a million people in Gaza face catastrophic levels of hunger, and many are at risk of dying from malnutrition-related causes.
Lammy also repeated calls for “an immediate ceasefire, to enable aid delivery at maximum speed and at the scale required”, including a halt to military operations in Gaza City. He added:
The UK reiterates its condemnation of this military action, which will only worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian situation and endanger the lives of the hostages held by Hamas.
We urge the Israeli government to change course and halt its plans. This terrible conflict must end. An immediate and permanent ceasefire is the only way to stop the suffering, secure the release of the hostages, achieve a surge in aid and deliver a framework for lasting peace.
According to the PA news agency, Heather Whitbread, Conservative councillor for the Epping West and Rural ward, has hit back at Yvette Cooper’s warning that asylum hotels must be closed “in a properly managed way”.
She said the row was “a decision on a planning point”, accusing the hotel owner of breaking planning law and insisting it was the council’s job to enforce regulations.
Whitbread warned that waiting until the end of parliament to close hotels was “too long”, adding:
Our community can’t afford to wait another four years.
She said the protests had already caused “a huge amount of disruption” and argued the hotel’s use as asylum accommodation was “untenable” and unsafe for both residents and the wider Epping community.
Updated at 10.05 EDT
Anti-immigrant protesters face off with counter-demonstrators in Portsmouth
Dozens of immigration protesters have faced off with anti-racism demonstrators in Portsmouth.
People take part in a counter protest to the Stand Up to Racism rally in Guildhall Square, Portsmouth. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PAProtesters take part in the Stand Up to Racism rally in Guildhall Square, Portsmouth. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA
According to the PA news agency Rita, a Portsmouth resident who joined the Stand Up to Racism counter-protest said:
I feel ashamed [at the protest] and I say this as a white British elderly lady who has been spat upon, verbally abused and had things thrown at me, just for being on this side of the road.
I am angry that my Christianity is being used as a weapon by the right and to be used in the name of fascism.
Updated at 10.07 EDT
The Home Office’s plan to appeal against the high court’s Epping asylum hotel ruling “is completely wrong”, Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp has said.
According to the PA news agency, he said:
The Epping Bell hotel injunction has been a victory for local people, led by a Conservative council working hard for their community. 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. The Government isn’t listening to the public or to 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.
A professor of public policy has said managing relationships between the UK government and Holyrood has to be a priority in the upcoming Scottish election – especially if it results in a minority administration, reports the PA news agency.
Speaking at a Festival of Politics event at the Scottish parliament about expectations and concerns for the Holyrood poll next May, Prof Nicola McEwen said that relationships across parties have become increasingly strained. She said:
I think we can be pretty confident that we will end up with a fragmented parliament where there is not a single party majority.
We will have a parliament of minorities – nothing new in that – but I think we will have a parliament of minorities that may find it more difficult to work across party lines. Partly because of the nature of relationships that have emerged over recent years, and we have seen an increasing polarisation among the parties.
Prof McEwen is a professor of public policy and governance at the University of Glasgow, director of the Centre for Public Policy, and senior fellow at the UK In A Changing Europe thinktank. She leads research on devolution and inter-institutional relations and provides advice to governments and public bodies.
According to the PA news agency, Prof McEwen advised that relationships across parties and between the UK and Scottish governments need to be prioritised in order for Holyrood to be able to successfully deliver on policies. She said:
Even if there was a majority government – there won’t be, but even if there was – the Scottish government cannot deliver things alone. It tends to set the framework and relies a lot on delivery partners, and a very big partner in that is local government.
There’s the relationship between the Scottish government and UK government. It’s an area I’ve done quite a lot of research on over the years, and the relationship particularly before the general election was dire.
That’s a problem, because it really matters … There are so many areas of policy that are still reserved, but they have an impact on the responsibilities of this parliament.
She added:
Managing that relationship has to be a priority for any administration in Scotland. That has been better since the last election since the change of government, but there are still challenges and still issues.
Rohan Sathyamoorthy
Nick Gibb, the former Conservative education minister, defended resits for students who fail to pass their maths and English GCSEs after the policy came under fire following new data showing that just 17% of those forced to retake had managed to achieve a grade 4 or above this year.
The policy for pupils in England dates back to Gibb’s time as education minister, with the increasing failure rate leading to education experts describing it as a “crisis” that was damaging students’ mental health and future prospects. The government is expected to revise the policy as part of its national curriculum review anticipated to be published later this year.
Nick Gibb, the former Conservative education minister, has defended resits for students who fail to pass their maths and English GCSEs after the policy came under fire. Photograph: Luke Dray/Getty Images
Speaking on the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Gibb said:
It is important that if a young person leaves school not having achieved a grade 4 in English and maths, they continue to study it, so that they can achieve that qualification.
Having a GCSE in English and maths transforms life chances of young people, including their health and employment prospects … if you think about what’s happened since 2014 when that policy was introduced by the Conservatives, every year 30,000 more young people over the age of 16 are getting that qualification.
Gibb’s defence of the policy comes as the front pages of both the Times and Telegraph today drew attention to the likelihood of the policy being scrapped.
Catherine Sezen, director of education policy for the Association of Colleges, said:
We must also reflect on the experience of over 130,000 students who did not reach that [grade 4] benchmark. Across the country, educators are working hard to improve outcomes, yet many are left asking what more can be done.
After a decade of the condition of funding policy, it is time to rethink how we support young people to build essential English and maths skills.
Updated at 08.34 EDT
Government gives baby food firms 18 months to improve quality of products in England
David Batty
Baby food manufacturers have been given 18 months to improve the quality of their products in England, amid mounting concerns that leading brands are nutritionally poor.
The new voluntary guidance from the government calls for a reduction in sugar and salt levels in food for infants and toddlers.
It also requests clearer labelling of products to address misleading marketing claims that make baby foods seem healthier than they are.
This will cover products with labels such as “contains no nasties”, which are high in sugar. Others are labelled as snacks for babies, which goes against government recommendations that children aged six to 12 months do not need snacks between meals, only milk.
It comes after researchers found that leading brands, such as Ella’s Kitchen and Heinz, were making sugar-heavy, nutritionally poor baby food that failed to meet the needs of infants.
A report by the University of Leeds school of food science and nutrition, published in April, found that some brands also carried misleading marketing claims, and urged the government to impose the same traffic light system found on chocolate bars and ice-cream.
The report’s authors said the new voluntary guidelines were disappointing and would have limited impact. Dr Diane Threapleton, the lead author of the Leeds study, said:
They’re quite narrow in scope, only looking at sugar and salt. But salt is not a major concern in UK baby food.
The public health minister, Ashley Dalton, said the guidelines would help parents who were often “bombarded with confusing labels, disguising unhealthy foods packed with hidden sugars and salt”.
Prof Simon Kenny, NHS England’s national clinical director for children and young people, said:
These new guidelines alongside clearer labelling will help empower busy parents to make nutritious choices that give their children the best possible start in life.
Last year a House of Lords report found commercial infant foods “are routinely high in sugar and marketed misleadingly”. It called on the government to introduce mandatory legal standards for commercial infant foods, without input from manufacturers.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said it expected manufacturers to meet the labelling guidelines within 18 months, adding: “If businesses fail to act, we will consider tougher measures.”
Asylum seekers are being targeted – and so are those who help them, writes Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, in an opinion piece for the Guardian today.
Solomon says that far-right influencers are menacing charities and individuals to further isolate the people they work with and that ensuring safety is now part of the job:
ShareFears grow over impact of ONS data reliability on Rachel Reeves’s budget
Anna Isaac
Deep problems at the UK’s statistics agency with the quality of its data are piling pressure on officials in the run-up to the autumn budget, sources have told the Guardian.
Staff at the Treasury and its independent spending watchdog are struggling to get a clear picture of the economy because of troubles at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) with producing reliable numbers.
Such is the concern that insiders at the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) believe it may have to again highlight “significant uncertainty” in its forecasts because of poor official data, as it did publicly in March. Economists have also warned that the problems risk the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, making tax and spending “missteps”.
The OBR forecasts are key to the budget process, as they are used to judge the headroom the chancellor has against her self-imposed fiscal rules, and form the basis for her tax and spending decisions. Its work is also closely watched by financial markets. This can affect the cost of borrowing the government needs to help fund public services.
Economists say the data problems risk the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, making tax and spending ‘missteps’. Photograph: Getty Images
The ONS, which produces figures on a range of indicators including economic growth, inflation and unemployment that are used by financial markets and government agencies, is struggling with mounting problems as it has delayed or cancelled several of its releases.
Its labour force survey (LFS) – the official measure of employment in the UK – has been beset with problems amid a collapse in response rates. Only this week, it postponed the release of retail sales data due on Friday for two weeks “to allow for further quality assurance”. Household wealth data has also been downgraded and is no longer treated as “official” because of quality concerns.
The longer the data quality problems persist at the ONS, the more acute the challenge becomes, sources familiar with the matter told the Guardian. One said:
We are, to a significant extent, flying blind on major areas such as the jobs market.
They added that while other datasets might offer indications of the health of employment in the UK, nothing could replace the fundamental role of the LFS.
ShareSecurity minister vows Labour will meet manifesto commitment to ‘end asylum hotels’ but closures need to be done in ‘managed way’
Dan Jarvis has vowed the Labour government will 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 told broadcasters:
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.
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.
ShareHome Office to appeal against high court’s Epping 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, security minister Dan Jarvis said.
Jarvis has said closing hotels housing asylum seekers must be done “in a managed and ordered way” as he unveiled government plans to challenge the high court’s decision related to the Bell hotel in Epping, Essex.
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.
Updated at 07.32 EDT
David Lammy among 21 foreign ministers to condemn plan for illegal West Bank settlement
Kiran Stacey
David Lammy has joined 20 other foreign ministers around the world in condemning Israeli plans to build an illegal settlement on the West Bank, with the Foreign Office summoning the Israeli ambassador to communicate the government’s displeasure.
The foreign secretary co-signed a joint statement on Thursday criticising the so-called E1 plan, a 3,400-home settlement that critics say would divide the West Bank in half.
Officials then summoned Tzipi Hotovely to the Foreign Office in a rare public rebuke for the Israeli ambassador. The actions marked a further intensification of recent international criticism for Israel over its tactics in Gaza and the West Bank.
The statement, which was signed by 21 countries including the UK, Australia, Canada and France, said:
The decision by the Israeli higher planning committee to approve plans for settlement construction in the E1 area, east of Jerusalem, is unacceptable and a violation of international law. We condemn this decision and call for its immediate reversal in the strongest terms.
In a separate statement, the Foreign Office confirmed it had summoned Hotovely in a display of public criticism. “If implemented, these settlement plans would be a flagrant breach of international law and would divide a future Palestinian state in two, critically undermining a two-state solution,” the department said in a statement.
It did not say which minister or official had met Hotovely or what was said in the meeting. The Israeli embassy did not respond to a request for comment.
Updated at 07.22 EDT
There has been some reaction to the news that MSP Jeremy Balfour has resigned from the Scottish Conservatives (see 9.13am BST). Balfour is the second MSP to leave the party in recent months, after Jamie Greene quit the Tories in April and joined the Liberal Democrats.
According to the PA news agency, Greene said of Balfour’s resignation:
I was clear back in April when I quit the Tories that it was a most unhappy of ships and others would follow my exit. Whilst Jeremy and I disagreed on specific issues over the years, I respect people who hold views which are clearly borne from life experiences and beliefs, as mine are.
One wonders how many more former colleagues will come to their senses and quit.
SNP MSP George Adam said:
The Scottish Conservatives under Russell Findlay’s disastrous leadership have completely fallen apart.
It is welcome to see Jeremy Balfour come to his senses on the reality of the Tories in Scotland, as they become increasingly extreme to pander to the politics of Nigel Farage.
With yet another MSP ditching the party, it’s clear the Tories are in freefall in Scotland as we approach the 2026 election. The only question remaining is who’ll be next to desert the sinking ship?
Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said:
When even a social conservative like Jeremy Balfour is saying you are too reactionary, it is time to reconsider your politics.
Updated at 07.10 EDT
Government to cover pay and pensions at collapsed South Yorkshire steelworks
Jasper Jolly
Workers at the UK’s third-largest steelworks in South Yorkshire have been assured they will receive their pay for August as well as unpaid pension contributions, after a government-appointed special manager took over the collapsed company.
Liberty Steel’s main British business, Speciality Steel UK (SSUK), collapsed into administration on Thursday afternoon after a high court judge ruled that it was insolvent and that its owner, the metals tycoon Sanjeev Gupta, had no prospects of repaying debts of several hundred million pounds.
The judge approved an application by the government’s official receiver, a representative tasked with winding up insolvent companies, to appoint special managers from the advisory company Teneo. A Teneo senior managing director was present in court on Thursday, and made contact with Liberty Steel executives immediately after the hearing.
Concerned union leaders representing SSUK’s 1,450 workers met the special managers last night, seeking assurances particularly on pay and pensions, as well as when operations could restart at sites including Rotherham and Stocksbridge in South Yorkshire, after a year without work.
The steel site in Rotherham. Unions have been seeking assurances about when operations can resume there and at the Stocksbridge plant. Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPA
Roy Rickhuss, the general secretary of Community, the biggest steelworking union, said that he had “received firm assurances” on pay and pensions.
The court heard on Thursday that SSUK had only £650,000 left in its bank account, with the August payroll of £3.6m due on Friday. Gupta’s counsel had argued that he was ready to cover the payments via another company, Liberty Capital UK, although the judge, Mr Justice Mellor, said Gupta’s assurances that he could pay “are at best questionable”.
The special managers have committed that workers will receive their August pay packets before the bank holiday weekend. They also said that they will fill in unpaid employer pension contributions for the past year. That will remove a major source of concern for workers, who had feared losing national insurance protections next month if the company were to close.
It remains unclear when the plants will restart production, although a person briefed on the talks said that the special managers had given positive signals that it could happen soon. Restarting production and trying to generate cash after four years in which it lost £340m will be crucial to limiting the costs of the administration, which will be borne temporarily by the government.
Scots are being urged to use water more efficiency in a bid to protect resources and maintain normal water levels, reports the PA news agency.
Scottish Water said August was drier than normal, and it followed the country’s driest spring in 70 years. It said reservoir levels across Scotland are down by 2% to 73% this week, 9% lower than the average of 82% for this time of year.
The east of Scotland has experienced greater water scarcity than the rest of the country, with average reservoir levels down 1% to 57% this week – 24% below the average of 81% for this time of year.
Scottish Water said demand has increased by 100m litres per day.
The supplier has asked the public to take small precautions to save water when possible, such as using watering cans instead of garden hoses, taking shorter showers, and turning off the tap when brushing teeth. Washing machines and dishwashers should only be used when fully loaded, and buckets and sponges should be used to wash cars rather than a hose, it added.
Scots use an average of 178 litres of water per day, Scottish Water said, which is higher than in England and Wales where people use an average of 137 litres per person per day, reports the PA news agency.
John Griffen, Scottish Water’s water operations general manager, said:
We’re working hard to maintain normal supplies for all customers and would ask that they use water efficiently to protect this precious resource. We believe that a large part of the additional water use at the moment is in gardens so we would ask that customers are mindful of how much water they use there.
Any rainfall we have had in parts of the country recently has not been prolonged enough to help our resources recover from the long spells of dry weather we have had recently and earlier this year. With no significant rain forecast for the next week or more, it’s important that everyone helps.
Scottish Water is now considering the possibility of bringing in water from alternative sources at its Backwater and Loch of Lintrathen reservoirs, which serve the Dundee and Tayside areas.
In the West Linton area of the Scottish Borders, Baddinsgill and West Water reservoirs – which serve much of West Lothian – are at 50% and 40%, and Scottish Water is balancing the flows between both sources. The company is also using tankers to supplement normal water supplies in some parts of the country.
Commenting on the government taking control of the UK’s third-largest steelworks, the general secretary of Community union said the “government’s intervention must mark a turning point to deliver certainty” for the businesses.
Roy Rickhuss said in a statement that “jobs must be protected” and wages should be paid as well as outstanding pensions contributions being secured. He added:
We welcome the government’s intervention which is yet another demonstration of our Labour government’s commitment to delivering for steelworkers and our vital foundation industry.
However, in taking control of the business the government has assumed responsibility for our livelihoods and our communities, and we will of course be holding them to account.