PM Sir Keir Starmer is facing the humiliation of Labour councils revolting against his government’s loathed migrant hotel policy.
Huge pressure from councils run by every political party could hasten the end of the hated Home Office policy.
SelwynPicsThe Bell Hotel in Epping was at the centre of Tuesday’s ruling[/caption]
GettyThe number of arrivals on small boats crossing the Channel has hit a new high[/caption]
PAStarmer is facing the humiliation of Labour councils revolting against his government’s loathed migrant hotel policy[/caption]
Authorities are poised to follow Epping Forest council in Essex after it won a High Court injunction to halt asylum accommodation.
Labour-controlled Wirral and Tamworth last night confirmed they are considering action against migrant hotels.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch issued a rallying cry to 33 Conservative councils while Reform and Lib Dem authorities are considering legal options.
The moves came after the High Court on Tuesday granted Epping Forest district council in Essex a temporary injunction to stop asylum seekers from being housed in the The Bell Hotel from next month.
Mr Justice Eyre ruled the owners may have breached planning rules by housing migrants rather than paying customers.
Like many other local authorities, we have concerns about the Home Office’s practice of placing asylum seekers in hotels
Wirral leader Paula Basnett
Protests had erupted outside the three-star hotel in recent weeks after a resident was accused of trying to kiss a 14-year-old girl.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper had tried to block the Epping bid.
If more councils take action, ministers are unsure where more than 30,000 people in hotel rooms would live.
Last night Wirral leader Paula Basnett said: “Like many other local authorities, we have concerns about the Home Office’s practice of placing asylum seekers in hotels without consultation or regard to local planning requirements.
“We are considering all options available to us to ensure that any use of hotels or other premises is lawful and does not ride roughshod over planning regulations or the wishes of our communities.”
Carol Dean, leader of Labour-run Tamworth, scene of anti-migrant riots last summer, said the court ruling represented a “potentially important precedent”.
She added: “I understand the strong feelings within our community regarding the use of the Holiday Inn to house those seeking asylum, and I want to reassure residents that we are listening to their concerns and taking them seriously.”
‘Set a precedent’
In her message to Tory councils, Ms Badenoch said: “The Epping Hotel injunction is a victory for local people led by a good Conservative council working hard for their community. This is the difference.
“I’m encouraging Conservative council leaders to take the same steps if your legal advice supports it.”
After the Epping victory, Tory-run Broxbourne was the first authority to declare “people have had enough” and it was seeking legal advice “as a matter of urgency about whether it could take a similar action” over a hotel in Cheshunt, Herts.
GettyPolice outside a migrant hotel in Bournemouth[/caption]
Three large migrant hotels are yards from the seafront in Bournemouth
ReutersLabour-run authority Wirral and Tamworth is reviewing its position on asylum hotels[/caption]
Broxbourne leader Corina Gander said Epping had “set a precedent”.
Reform UK said it would campaign for the closure of hotels at all 12 councils where it is the largest party.
Reform-led West Northamptonshire vowed to look at the options. Ian Cooper, leader of Staffordshire Council also controlled by Reform, said: “The impact of government policy is felt in communities across our county.”
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council — which has three asylum hotels metres from the seafront and is run by a Lib Dem/Independent coalition — said it was considering the implications of the Epping ruling.
Craig Leyland, leader of East Lindsey Council in Lincolnshire, said: “We have always been clear to the Government that we stand strongly against the use of hotels in our district by the Home Office for those seeking asylum.
“We now only have one hotel in such use.
Minister fails to confirm plans for re-housing migrants
SECURITY Minister Dan Jarvis failed to offer any alternative plans for re-housing migrants when pressed about the recent High Court ruling this morning.
Speaking on Times Radio, he admitted that “nobody really thinks hotels are a sustainable location to accommodate asylum seekers”.
However, when asked if there were contingencies in place for the 32,000 asylum seekers currently in hotels across Britain – in case more councils were to win the right to remove them from hotels – he could not state if a specific plan was in place.
Mr Jarvis said that the government was “looking at a range of different contingency options” but did not name any of the ideas being floated.
He added that officials were “looking very closely at the circumstances at The Bell Hotel”.
The latest Home Office data showed there were 32,345 asylum seekers being housed temporarily in UK hotels at the end of March.
This was down 15 per cent from the end of December, when the total was 38,079, and 6 per cent lower than the 34,530 at the same point a year earlier.
New figures – published among the usual quarterly immigration data release – are expected on Thursday, showing numbers in hotels at the end of June.
Figures for hotels published by the Home Office date back to December 2022 and showed numbers hit a peak at the end of September 2023 when there were 56,042 asylum seekers in hotels.
AlamyHome Secretary Yvette Cooper had tried to block the Epping bid[/caption]
“I have asked officers to investigate and understand the Epping case and will take appropriate action once we understand if there are any similarities that we can act on.”
Tory-run Reigate and Banstead and Hillingdon councils, and Independent-led Spelthorne Borough Council in Surrey are also reviewing their options.
While some county councils will push for the closures, the legal steps to challenge the use of hotels falls to district and borough councils.
The Local Government Association called on the Home Office to work “much more closely” with authorities on asylum accommodation decisions.
The Home Office is scrambling to find accommodation for up to 138 men housed in the Bell Hotel in Epping before the September 12 deadline to empty it.
LNPA protest outside of the Ibis hotel in Crick, one of three hotels in West Northamptonshire used to house migrants[/caption]
Migrants are facing the boot from the protest-hit Bell Hotel in Epping after a landmark rulingAFP
Jubilant protesters gather outside The Bell following the court victory
Pressed to give details of these contingency options, Minister of State for Security Dan Jarvis said: “With respect, the legal judgment was only handed down yesterday.”
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has written to Ms Cooper to demand that those in the Bell Hotel are not moved to apartments, houses in multiple occupation, or social housing which is “much needed for British people”.
Brighton and Hove Council refuses to launch legal bid
Brighton and Hove City Council refused to launch a legal bid, saying it was a “proud city of sanctuary” and will continue to welcome and support asylum seekers.
Jacob Taylor, the local authority’s deputy leader, said “We will not comment on the location of hotels being used by the Home Office to provide temporary accommodation to people seeking asylum.
“I believe to do so in the current climate is irresponsible and risks causing division and unrest in our communities at a time when more than ever we need to bring people together.”
Figures show 32,345 asylum seekers were being housed in hotels as of March 2025, with another 71,339 in other accommodation.
Responding to Ms Badenoch’s letter, a Labour spokesperson said: “This is desperate and hypocritical nonsense from the architects of the broken asylum system.
“Under the Tories, the number of asylum hotels in use rose as high as 400.
“There are now half that and 20,000 fewer asylum seekers in hotels than at their peak.
“We have removed over 35,000 people with no right to be in the UK and are putting in the hard graft to smash the gangs running the vile small boats trade.”
The High Court judgement explained
HIGH Court Judge Mr Justice Eyre has ruled that the owners of The Bell Hotel – Somani Hotels Limited – might have breached planning rules by housing migrants at the site, rather than paying customers.
After a hearing in London’s High Court last week, Mr Justice Eyre said Somani Hotels Limited had “sidestepped the public scrutiny and explanation” by not applying for planning permission for the migrant hotel.
In his judgement, he said that while the council had not “definitively established” that Somani Hotels had breached planning rules, “the strength of the claimant’s case is such that it weighs in favour” of granting the injunction.
He said the fear of crime being committed by those accommodated there was a “relevant factor”, albeit one with “limited weight”.
In his judgement, he said it is “understandable” that recent arrests “form a basis for the local concern”.
He added: “The arrests have occurred in a relatively short period and have arisen when no more than 138 asylum seekers are accommodated in the Bell at any time.
“The consequence is that the fear said to be felt by local residents cannot be dismissed as solely speculation based on fear of what might happen from an activity which has not yet begun.”
The judge also said that had the hotel owners, Somani Hotels Limited, applied for planning permission, it would have given Epping Forest District Council and local residents a chance to air their concerns.
Philip Coppel KC, for the authority, said the situation was “wholly unacceptable” and provided a “feeding ground for unrest”.
He said: “There has been what can be described as an increase in community tension, the catalyst of which has been the use of the Bell Hotel to place asylum seekers.”
Mr Coppel continued: “It is not the asylum seekers who are acting unlawfully.
“It is the defendant, by allowing the hotel to be used to house asylum seekers.”
He added: “It really could not be much worse than this.”
The judge granted a temporary injunction in his ruling, meaning the hotel has to be cleared of its occupants by September 12.
Activists were seen celebrating after the court ruling
Chris Whitbread, the leader of Epping Forest District Council, speaks to the media outside the High Court Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
