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Rachel Reeves has been warned that cutting the tax-free amount people can withdraw from their pension pots would be self-defeating and “hit responsible savers who have diligently put money aside”.The chancellor will look at proposals by civil servants that could raise around £2bn by lowering the limit on how much people are allowed to take out of their pension without paying tax.Currently, pensioners can take out a quarter of their pension pot tax-free, with a cap of £268,000. Lowering the level could bring in billions of pounds of additional tax revenue each year as the Treasury grapples with a black hole of as much as £50bn.Rachel Reeves could consider cutting the tax-free pension lump sum allowance More

Rachel Reeves is spending the summer grappling with the various options at her disposal to fill a £50bn hole in the public finances. The chancellor will be presented in the coming weeks with a range of potential tax hikes to help her balance the books within her self-imposed fiscal rules.To restore an almost £10bn buffer in the current forecasts, she must raise a total of £51.1bn, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) think tank has warned. And, having promised last October’s Budget was a one-off with no more major tax hikes on the way, Ms Reeves faces the fury of voters, business chiefs and investors if she goes back on her word.Ministers have already squeezed significant savings out of their departments in cuts that were unveiled at June’s spending review, limiting the chancellor’s room for manoeuvre and raising the prospect of tax hikes.Rachel Reeves has a multi-billion pound hole in the public finances to fill More

Kemi Badenoch has been branded a “hypocrite” for calling for Conservative councils to challenge the use of so-called asylum hotels in their local areas.The Tory leader said in a letter on Wednesday that she was “encouraging” councils to “take the same steps” as Epping Forest District Council “if your legal advice supports it”.But the move has been criticised as “desperate and hypocritical nonsense”, given the Conservative’s own record with asylum hotels.At the peak of their use in the summer of 2023 under the Conservative government, there were more than 400 asylum hotels in use.Figures on those staying in hotels 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.A Labour spokesperson said Mrs Badenoch’s letter was a “pathetic stunt” and “desperate and hypocritical nonsense from the architects of the broken asylum system” More

Chris Philp challenged over why he didn’t encourage councils to take legal action over asylum hotels when Tories were in powerThe number of asylum seekers being housed temporarily in UK hotels has risen by 8 per cent under Labour compared to the same point last year, Home Office data shows. However, figures from the last three months show that the figure has gone down very slightly from 32,345 in March this year, to 32,059 in June 2025. With numbers falling in recent months, government spending on asylum in the UK also stood at £4.76 billion in 2024/25, down 12 per cent from a record £5.38 billion in 2023/24.It comes as Labour-run councils are among those considering legal challenges against the use of hotels to house asylum seekers, as the government scrambles to draw up a contingency plan. Carol Dean, leader of Labour-controlled Tamworth Council, said her authority had previously decided against legal action but was now “carefully assessing” what the decision might mean for the area, adding it was a “potentially important legal precedent”.Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has called on Tory local councils to take inspiration from the Epping legal ruling to launch challenges of their own. The opposition leader said Epping Forest District Council had achieved “a victory for local people”, while Reform UK leader Nigel Farage also called for his party’s councils to launch their own legal challenges. As Epping case could bring migrant hotel use to an end – where else can asylum seekers go?Epping Forest District Council won an interim injunction to stop asylum seekers being hosted at The Bell Hotel, saying it had become a “feeding ground for unrest.”The judgement requires all migrants currently housed in the hotel – around 140 men as of last month – to leave by 4pm on 12 September.Read the full article here:Holly Evans21 August 2025 15:36Labour MP condemns arson attack on building after speculation on social media Labour MP Oliver Ryan has condemned recent attacks on his constituents “for the colour of their skin” and an arson attack on a building that was falsely believed to be repurposed for asylum seekers. The Burnley MP said: “Last night in Gannow, a building 100 metres from Whittlefield Primary was set on fire after online speculation and a Reform councillor said it was being converted into a HMO site, implying completely falsely that this is being used to house illegal migrants. It isn’t even applying to be a HMO but supported social housing.”He continued: “I want to be clear despite Reform councillors praying for one and whipping up as much as they can, we don’t have any asylum hotels in the Burnley constituency. “What we do have however, quite shamefully, is families and individuals being attacked in our area. British families and British individuals for the colour of their skin. I’ve been contacted by many of them, windows being put in on houses where people are assuming asylum seekers live.”Holly Evans21 August 2025 15:14What the UK’s migration numbers really showIt follows a High Court ruling on Tuesday that banned the use of The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, for asylum seekers after lawyers argued it had become a “feeding ground for unrest” following a string of violent protests at the site.As Labour braces for a fresh round of legal action from revolting councils seeking similar bans in their areas, new Home Office figures reveal that the number of people claiming asylum in the past year soared to a record 111,000, while small boats continue to cross the Channel at increasing rates.Read the full analysis from our data correspondent Alicja Hagopian here: Holly Evans21 August 2025 14:47Asylum seekers have right to privacy in their homes, council saysAsylum seekers have a human right to privacy in their homes, the City of York council has said as right-wing politicians call for protests outside of migrant hotels.Reform MP Richard Tice yesterday urged local residents to protest outside asylum hotels. Now Labour-led City of York council have said that allocation of asylum accommodation is up to central government, adding: “Asylum seekers also have a human right to privacy in their home and we wouldn’t release details relating to this, including whether any hotels are being used in our area.“We are not progressing with any legal action relating to hotel accommodation.” Holly Bancroft21 August 2025 14:30 What options does the Home Office have now?Last month, amid protests outside the Bell Hotel and more migrants crossing the Channel, an extra 400 spaces were being prepared to house male asylum seekers at RAF Wethersfield in Essex.The former military site, which has a usual capacity of 800 beds, is expected to house more adult men on a short-term basis.The Labour Government scrapped the large site of the Bibby Stockholm barge in Portland, Dorset, earlier this year, while Napier Barracks in Folkestone, Kent, is also due to end housing asylum seekers and be returned to the Ministry of Defence in September.Holly Evans21 August 2025 14:23Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation, known as contingency accommodation, if they are awaiting assessment of their claim or have had a claim approved and there is not enough longer-term accommodation available.The Home Office provides accommodation to asylum seekers who have no other way of supporting themselves on a “no choice” basis, so they cannot choose where they live.When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to accommodation such as hotels and large sites, like former military bases.In May, the National Audit Office said those temporarily living in hotels accounted for 35 per cent of all people in asylum accommodation.Men pictured walking into The Bell Hotel, which has been housing asylum seekers More

Councils across England are weighing up legal challenges after the High Court’s decision to block a hotel in Epping from accommodating asylum seekers.The ruling blocks asylum seekers from being housed at the Bell Hotel in the Essex town, and current residents must be removed by September 12.On Wednesday, several local authorities, including some run by the Labour Party, said they were considering their options to take similar action.The ruling has resulted in another wave of criticism directed at Sir Keir Starmer and his Labour government over immigration, with opposition parties repeatedly accusing the government of failing to adequately tackle the issue.Yet amid backlash and local council tensions, the figures show that Labour has already made significant steps to move away from the use of hotels.The multi-billion cost of housing asylum seekers in hotels has dropped markedly from its peak in 2023. Last year (2024/5), the cost for hotel bills was at £2.1bn, down by a third from £3.1bn in the previous year. The smaller bill is a result of multiple factors, most notably the reduction in the asylum backlog.The average daily cost for housing each asylum seeker in a hotel has gone down from £176 to £170 per person. This still remains higher than previous years.The government has also made efforts to reduce the proportion of asylum seekers housed in hotels, moving them towards other types of accommodation.Figures from March show 32,345 asylum seekers out of over 100,000 were being accommodated in hotels, with the remainder housed in temporary accommodation including council-owned homes and a former airfield.Just 30 per cent are staying in hotels, which is meant as a contingency – or temporary – measure.Government accounts show that costs are likely to remain similar this year, with £2.2bn requested by the Home Office to asylum housing costs; suggesting that the number of asylum seekers is unlikely to fall significantly. In February, Home Office permanent secretary Sir Matthew Rycroft said the department was aiming to “get to zero” asylum hotels by the end of this parliament in 2029.In 2022, the government began plans to use “large sites” like cruise ships and ex-military bases to accommodate asylum seekers. Among these are the Bibby Stockholm barge, which was shut down last year, and former RAF airfield Wethersfield which now houses 588 people as of early 2025. But a review last year found that these sites cost more than hotels as a way to house asylum seekers. Nonetheless, hotels cost around six times more on average than other types of accommodation, according to analysis by the Migration Observatory; at £170 a day compared to £27 a day.Yet most of the time, the government is forced to place people in hotels due to a lack of capacity, with a shortage of accommodation and a substantial –albeit decreasing – asylum backlog.The asylum backlog stood at 78,745 cases at the end of March – a 13 per cent drop from December, and down 41 per cent from the mid-2023 peak.Yet the sizeable backlog, which is still higher than pre-2022 levels, represents a host of ongoing costs for the government as people wait for a decision on their asylum claims.Most asylum seekers are still waiting over six months for an initial decision on their claim, although waiting times have improved compared to the same time last year. The majority of people in the backlog are Afghan, Pakistani and Iranian nationals, according to the Migration Observatory. The UK’s asylum backlog is the fifth largest in Europe.Where are asylum seekers staying in the UK?Now, over 8 in 10 local authorities host some asylum seekers, Home Office figures show. This is a significant rise over the last decade.Accommodation for asylum seekers varies by region. In the North East of England, just 5 per cent are housed in hotels, while in London hotels make up the majority of accommodation (65 per cent).Epping Forest council is within the East of England region, which has 41 per cent of migrants housed in hotels.However, being in Essex, the council is on the edge of London which has a higher concentration of asylum seekers than the rest of the UK.Around 140 migrants were being housed in The Bell Hotel in Epping, according to BBC reports, all of whom must now leave by September.Though the hotel has provided accommodation for the Home Office for several years, occupancy has fluctuated, with figures in March showing just 28 asylum seekers housed across Epping Forest hotels.Reform leader Nigel Farage has called on other councils to seek “Epping-style injunctions” against the use of hotels to house asylum seekers, adding: “It is high time that the outrageously expensive asylum hotel scheme, which nobody in Britain ever voted for, was brought down by popular demand.”The recent pushback has come amid record levels of small boat crossings to the UK.Labour’s education minister Baroness Jacqui Smith has admitted that the high numbers are “a problem that, up until this point, we haven’t managed to tackle”.People coming on small boats make up an increasing proportion of asylum applications. Last year, a third of the UK’s asylum claims came from small boat migrants.In 2025 so far, over 26,000 migrants have already crossed the English Channel, higher than summer levels in any year to date.In fact, figures at mid-August have nearly exceeded the entirety of 2023 (29,437).Meanwhile arrests of people smugglers who enable the crossings were down last year, according to National Crime Agency data obtained by The Independent. The shadow home secretary called Labour’s failure to “smash the gangs” an “abject failure”.This suggests that small boats migration could be the highest on record over 2025, bringing with it a slew of new asylum claims; since almost all irregular migrants apply for asylum. More