OUTRAGED mums blasted a judge’s decision to back a Government appeal to keep a controversial migrant hotel open, insisting: “They don’t care.”
Sarah White, 50, who led a protest outside The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, added: “They are putting illegal migrants above us all.”
Louis WoodFurious mums have said they are ‘disgusted’ as they protest the hotel ruling[/caption]
AlamyA judge ruled migrant hotel The Bell in Epping could stay open[/caption]
GettyPM Sir Keir Starmer is facing a public backlash after the decision[/caption]
Louis WoodSarah White, who led a protest outside The Bell Hotel, says the ruling makes people and their children ‘less safe’[/caption]
The fury came after Lord Justice Bean and two other Court of Appeal judges ruled in favour of the Home Office and overturned an injunction banning the inn from housing asylum seekers.
Mothers vented their fury, saying: “They have let down the women and children of Epping. What about our rights?”
Sarah White, who has three teenaged children and is a Reform UK member said: “We’re completely disgusted with the ruling.
“This is a question about safety and this ruling makes people like me, and our children, less safe.”
Outside the hotel, mum-of-three pal Orla Minihane, 49, added: “The Home Office is on record in the High Court claiming migrants’ wellbeing was more important than the local people.
‘Outrageous’
“There’s 135,000 people in Epping Forest. There’s 135 (migrants) there. And they trump us, the taxpayers of this country? It’s outrageous.
“It’s really shone a light on where the Home Office and this Government see their priorities and I think that’s what sticks in the throat the most.”
Protests first started at the Essex hotel after a resident was accused of sexually assaulting teenage girls.
Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, an asylum seeker from Ethiopia, has since appeared in court where he denied several alleged sex offences.
His trial at Colchester magistrates’ court was adjourned until Thursday.
After the ruling, friends Carmen MacDonald and Shirley Mooney turned up at The Bell Hotel wearing “Pink Ladies” T shirts emblazoned with the words “The Only Way is Epping” and “Send them home, protect our kids”.
Carmen, 60, said: “The court decision is an absolute disgrace. That judge needs sacking.
“We’ve been peacefully demonstrating week after week all excited for them hopefully being sent out the hotel — and now it’s been overturned.
“The kids go back to school next week, which is scary. I’ve got granddaughters.”
Shirley added: “I’m devastated and sick to the stomach at the injunction being lifted.”
A legal victory for the Home Office and the owners of the hotel means residents will now not have to be moved out by September 12.
But the decision has triggered public outcry, with PM Sir Keir Starmer in the firing line.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “Illegal migrants have more rights than the British people under Starmer.”
He also seized on arguments made by government lawyers, who said the Home Secretary had an obligation under Strasbourg rules to not make asylum seekers destitute.
Starmer’s Government has shown itself to be on the side of illegal migrants who have broken into our country.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick
Referring to the European Convention on Human Rights, Mr Farage said: “The Government has used ECHR against the people of Epping.”
Labour argued to keep the hotel open despite making a manifesto pledge to “end asylum hotels, saving the taxpayers billions of pounds”.
The local authority had claimed the Bell’s owner, Somani Hotels, breached planning rules, using it to house asylum seekers.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch last night called on Conservative councils around the country to take out further injunctions against the Home Office if hotels in their area doing the same.
She said: “Local communities should not pay the price for Labour’s total failure on illegal immigration.
GettyProtesters gather outside The Bell Hotel after the Court of Appeal overturned the order to evict asylum seekers[/caption]
PAPolice stationed outside The Bell Hotel[/caption]
Grandmother-of-five Angie Claire said she fears for the safety of local children
“Keir Starmer has shown that he puts the rights of illegal immigrants above the rights of British people who just want to feel safe in their towns and communities.”
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “The British Government should always put the interests of the British people first.
“Starmer’s Government has shown itself to be on the side of illegal migrants who have broken into our country.”
No reason to celebrate
By Ryan Sabey, Deputy Political Editor
Sir Keir Starmer may well take a sip on a cold drink at the end of his summer holiday today after winning the Court of Appeal hearing.
But any delight from the Prime Minister’s will be extremely short-lived as he works through the practical ramifications of the controversial asylum hotel staying open.
Sir Keir and his Home Secretary Yvette Cooper have got through this legal battle but the knock-on effects are now huge.
The crux of the problems for the government are that they wanted to keep the Bell Hotel in Epping OPEN when so much noise has been created about CLOSING them.
Political opponents such as senior Tory Robert Jenrick hit out at Ms Cooper saying taxpayer money was used for this appeal.
He says this Labour government are on the side of illegal migrants who have broken into the country. Ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe simply says Ministers must deport the illegal migrants.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch was also quickly out to react against the ruling saying it pits the rights of illegal migrants against the people who are seeing their communities ruined.
She also urges Tory councils up and down the country to “keep going” if they seek similar injunctions to close asylum hotels.
She pointedly adds in her response to the ruling: “The public can see exactly who is fighting to keep these hotels open. It’s Labour.”
The legal action will appear bizarrely to many to be in sheer contrast to the long-term plan to actually close these hotels, which are costing around £5 million per day.
Ms Cooper as part of the government appeal even used the European Convention of Human Rights to say she has an obligation not to kick migrants on the streets.
It’s all so messy when we’ve had a string of Labour MPs followed by party grandees including Lord Blunkett and Jack Straw questioning why we abide by Strasbourg rules.
The ruling, by three Court of Appeal judges, will only raise tensions with local communities who want to see hotels that are blighting communities closed.
Despite the pledge to close them, the public have yet to see alternative accommodation that will be provided to house thousands of migrants.
One person who will immediately take advantage of the ruling is Reform UK Nigel Farage. Look at the difference between his positioning and that of the PM.
On Tuesday this week, Mr Farage spelled out his plans to detain and deport thousands of migrants sending them on their way of deportation flight after deportation flight.
He will simply point at the PM and tell his growing legion of supporters that the PM wants the opposite of them.
The government wants to close these hotels step by step in a measured, practical way.
For the public, time and patience with the PM to deal with illegal immigration and the Channel small boats problem is running out. And running out quick.
Perhaps the PM will want to pour another drink before he heads back to Britain.
But Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle said the Government remains committed to closing all asylum hotels by the end of this Parliament, with the appeal ensuring it can happen in a “controlled and orderly way”.
In his ruling, Lord Justice Bean, a former Treasurer for the Society of Labour Lawyers, said the original judge’s approach at the High Court was “seriously flawed”.
The judge, also a former chairman of the left wing Fabian Society, insisted housing asylum seekers “is a national issue requiring a structured response”.
He warned using planning laws to close one site may incentivise other councils to do the same.
GettyTwo women’s T-shirts read ‘the only way is Epping – send them home’[/caption]
AlamyHome Secretary Yvette Cooper ‘used the European Convention of Human Rights to say she has an obligation not to kick migrants onto the streets’[/caption]
But Epping councillor Shane Yerrell said the ruling was “hurtful” and kids are “frightened to go to school” in the town.
Speaking outside the hotel, he said: “Local parents felt like there was one big step forward when the High Court agreed to close the hotel and things started to calm down.
“But then for the Home Office and the Government to appeal, and that be accepted today, is hurtful.
I’ve got nothing against immigrants, but when they’re causing trouble and problems with our children, they need to be moved on.
Angie Claire
“For the Home Secretary to come out say the needs of the asylum seekers are more important than ours — you don’t even know them, you don’t know the history.”
Resident Angie Claire, 56, who has five grandchildren aged under seven, told The Sun: “I’ve got nothing against immigrants, but when they’re causing trouble and problems with our children, they need to be moved on. Sent back — I don’t care — but move them out.”
Bell hotel judge ran socialist think-tank
By Joe Morgan
A JUDGE who ruled migrants can stay in an Essex hotel ran a socialist think-tank and was reportedly a member of the Labour Party for at least 28 years.
Lord Justice Bean, who delivered the judgment, and two other Court of Appeal judges ruled that an injunction banning the Bell Hotel from housing asylum seekers should be overturned.
But it has now emerged he was chair of the socialist Fabian Society from 1989-90, which works very closely with Labour.
Its membership is predominantly made up of Labour members.
He was one of the founding members of the Matrix Chambers, alongside Cherie Blair — wife of the former Prime Minister Tony Blair — and Lord Hermer, the current Attorney General.
He also served as a treasurer for the Society of Labour Lawyers, which describes itself as a “think-tank and affiliated socialist society which provides legal and policy advice to the Labour Party”.
Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
