UK Politics

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

Property experts have warned that Rachel Reeves’ plans to levy a so-called “mansion tax” on high-value properties would stall housing sales and add to the exodus of the super-rich from the UK. Mortgage brokers and financial planners have rounded on the chancellor after reports she is considering hitting the owners of expensive properties when they sell to plug a £40bn hole in the public purse. The mooted plans would see higher-rate taxpayers pay 24 per cent of any gain in the value of their home, while basic rate taxpayers would be hit with an 18 per cent levy. Currently, capital gains tax is not paid on the sale of primary residences.Rachel Reeves is believed to be planning a raid on high-value home sales More

Protesters gather outside the Bell Hotel in Epping after injunction blocks housing of asylum seekersMore councils are now vowing to launch legal challenges over the government’s use of asylum hotels, sparking chaos for Sir Keir Starmer, as Reform UK calls for protests.Councils have announced they are considering action to ban migrants from being housed in their areas after Epping Forest District Council won an interim High Court injunction to stop asylum seekers being housed at The Bell Hotel.The council successfully argued the site 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.Reform leader Nigel Farage hailed the High Court decision in Epping as a “victory” and indicated that the 12 councils where his party is the largest would now consider similar challenges.Writing in the Daily Telegraph, he also said that “the good people of Epping must inspire similar protests around Britain”.Meanwhile, the shadow home secretary argued that residents have “every right to object” to people being housed in their area.Spelthorne vows it ‘will not give up’ in pursuing legal actionSpelthorne Borough Council has vowed it “will not give up” as it pursues “every legal and strategic option available”.In a statement issued today, the council said: “Spelthorne Borough Council remains resolute in its opposition to the Home Office’s recent decision to change the use of the Stanwell Hotel from housing families and single women to accommodating single adult males only.“In response to this change, the Council acted swiftly to obtain legal advice regarding the potential for enforcement action on planning grounds. The Council is now working closely with legal counsel in light of the recent High Court ruling on the Bell Hotel in Epping Forest, which may have significant implications for the situation in Stanwell.“The Council is also continuing to press the Home Office for a formal response to previous correspondence and is urging immediate and meaningful engagement.”Cllr Joanne Sexton, Leader of Spelthorne Borough Council, added: “We will not give up. This decision by the Home Office is deeply concerning and was made without proper consultation or consideration of the local community. Our priority is, and always will be, the wellbeing of our residents and protecting Stanwell. We are pursuing every legal and strategic option available to us, and we call on the Home Office to respond urgently and engage constructively.”Tara Cobham20 August 2025 15:45South Norfolk Council issue enforcement notice on asylum hotel in areaThe Independent’s social affairs correspondent Holly Bancroft reports:South Norfolk Council have issued an enforcement notice on the asylum hotel in their area. The hotel owners were served with the order on 8 August, requiring the owners to put in a planning application for a change of use.In the Epping case, the hotel’s owners Somani Hotels Ltd failed to apply for a change of use, leading to Epping Forest District Council taking action against them for a breach of planning permission.Tara Cobham20 August 2025 15:30Solihull Council also considers implications of Epping judgementSolihull Council is also considering the implications of the Epping judgement.A Solihull Council spokesperson said: “Once the full details are published, we will be able to consider what this might mean for Solihull Council and if there are any implications for the hotel in Solihull.”Tara Cobham20 August 2025 15:15Wirral council to consider options as Home Office intends to use former hotel for single male asylum seekersWirral council have said that they are considering their options after the Home Office informed them that a former hotel in their area will soon be used to house single male asylum seekers. The former hotel is currently being used to house asylum seeking families and no planning consent has been brought to change the use of the hotel, the council said. The Home Office informed the council at the end of June that they plan on relocating the families and using the building for asylum seeking men instead.Reacting to Epping Forest Council’s victory at the High Court, a spokesperson for Wirral council said: “We will be considering the detail of the judgement and how it might impact on planning consent for the proposed use of the former hotel in Hoylake”.Rebecca Whittaker20 August 2025 15:00Farage calls for protests following Epping rulingReform UK leader Nigel Farage has called for protests following the Epping ruling.Mr Farage wrote in the Daily Telegraph: “Now, the good people of Epping must inspire similar protests around Britain.“Wherever people are concerned about the threat posed by young undocumented males living in local hotels and who are free to walk their streets, they should follow the example of the town in Essex.“Let’s hold peaceful protests outside the migrant hotels, and put pressure on local councils to go to court to try and get the illegal immigrants out; we now know that together we can win.”Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has called for protests following the Epping ruling More