Epping Migrant Hotel. Proof that protest does work?

[DangerQuakeRhinoSnake]

The high court ruled that illegal migrants must be moved from the Bell Hotel in Epping as it's been deemed unsafe.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3e221qgeeo

Other councils are now intending to follow suit.

A victory for those protesters, and proof that taking to the street can be effective.

I am glad the protest was peaceful & did not attack or threaten anyone. I hope the government stops stretching the system. I hope refugees can be helped.

No, not Rwanda. It is not a safe country to send people to. We can fix this issue without treating people inhumanely.

Evidence of Rwandan government's inhumane treatment of migrants.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq55yqn0322o.amp&ved=2ahUKEwiYqLbzj5qPAxU8U0EAHZm-MYcQFnoECBQQBQ&usg=AOvVaw1kmaLgJOohK0imiiI-SuB0

They could well be sent somewhere abroad. But Rwanda should not be it.

House each illegal with a leftie.

Nope Council housing was dire in the in the 2000s as well, hence the rise of BLT.... Tory and Lab never built any, so we run out

Unfortunately Brexit changed the type of migrant coming here, pre Brexit it was, in the main, young educated Europeans, many returned home as their economies improved....... since 2020, is SE Asian/African/Indian with dependents, low skilled, poor english and who will never contribute.

Plus of course, pre 2020, no one crossed the ch in a dinghy, as Chris Philp ex Tory minister said "Brexit made it harder to deport failed asylum seekers"

Brexitiers dispute this of course but if not, it's one hell of a coincidence!!!

Why not a Right Whinger? after all, its thanks to them we have a migrant crisis.

I would hope that everyone 'gets worked up' about sexual assault, but the issue you've overlooked is racism.

Hundreds (thousands? I don't think we know the full extent) of men were enabled by their racism to torture thousands of white British girls because they saw them as sub human. It was/is far worse than sexual assault, and displays a level of hatred normally associated with war crimes. They felt no remorse, because they felt superior.

Yet people who mention it are accused of racism and right wing bigotry. Crazy to think more of these men than those poor, poor girls. I'm not British though.

In Sheffield, pre Brexit, one of the largest influxes was Roma from Slovakia. poorly educated, largely unskilled. There are almost three thousand in the city now, and whilst things have settled somewhat, there were huge lifestyle issues for the first few years. Already impoverished areas as usual the worst affected, so it wasn’t a surprise many voted to leave the EU. The Labour MP David Blunkett spoke about the issues:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24909979

There was spare council housing in lots of places in the North of England 25 years ago. Kirklees council advertised empty homes in London and the South hoping to attract tenants. Other councils began demolishing less popular properties. I worked in social housing and that was the case in the late 1990s early 2000s.

https://www.lgcplus.com/archive/kirklees-mbc-offers-homes-to-londoners-20-12-1999/

It is interesting that it is Epping where this has come unstuck. 40 years ago when the M25 was built, they put a tunnel under Epping golf course instead of moving the golf course. I would suggest that the true story here is about the financial and political clout within the area, and not the protesters.

My previous post was in response to @Alexandra2001. Not sure why quote didn’t work.

You focus on 3k Roma, i'll focus on the 200k EU who worked in NHS or the 500k in hospitality etc etc?

After 3months we could have deported.... under FOM rules but we scrapped in out controls.... no id cards... no clue who is here, thats on UK... we chose not to enforce rules inc health insurance requirements.

You claim plenty of SH but come up with Kirklees.... try somewhere south of Birmingham?

I specifically said in the North. Kirklees was one area who tried to find tenants, others were selling housing stock. I am aware of differences across the UK.

My reason for mentioning Roma was the effect of Blair opening UK borders to A8 Eastern bloc countries before almost any other Western European country and the effects on many, often poorer, neighbourhoods, and how that influenced voters.

i think media, bojo and farage had far greater influence.

Cornwall/Devon has had very little EU migration, voted strongly for Brexit, even net for EU funds...

We had the means to deal with people not here to work or study Lab and Tory chose not to deal with it...... ironically, now we don't.

People down here were snapping up council houses, many have gone on to become Airbnb's and v expensive BTLs.... its been a disasterous policy and nowt to do with migration.

Can't disagree about allowing Right to Buy to go on for so long. Scotland and Wales withdrew it, not England. Our Deputy PM must approve of it, she bought hers!

Even within the EU you can't just live anywhere you like. You have to have a job or means to support yourself. UK had the right to get people to leave if they were not self-supporting - but as PP mentioned, with no ID no-one has a real idea of who or where any one is. I would prefer a focus on deporting people who are visa overstayers or who otherwise have no real right to stay in UK than on the much smaller number of asylum seekers. Family reunification also needs to be much better controlled.

A large number of other local authorities are looking at similar legal moves against hotels accommodating migrants. If this were to occur then the Government would have to look at accommodating them in privately rented properties which presumably would create even more local far right protests concerning unaffordable housing - you can imagine the banners "I can't afford to buy a house / rent a house/ local authority house etc but foreigner types get it for free" etc etc.

Perhaps a better solution would be for the Government to set up a "host an asylum seeker" scheme in your home just like they did for the Ukrainian refugees. Judging by the level of support across the country against the far right protesters and helping desperate asylum seekers then I'm convinced that there would be no shortage of people across the country willing to do their bit to help these desperate asylum seekers and welcome them into their own homes.

Good suggestion @1dayatatime A boarding allowance could be paid.

Also those who claim family here (as a reason for coming to the UK) could live with them?

Or, should we adopt a scheme like Sweden’s, and pay them to go home? The tide is turning in so much of Europe.

A large number of other local authorities are looking at similar legal moves against hotels accommodating migrants.

It seems to actually be a very small number and those who are considering it are watching and waiting to see what happens at appeal. For all Reform’s fine talk only one of its councils has planning powers so this isn’t an option available to the rest. The majority of asylum seeker hotels are in Labour council areas.

Why are you assuming that this only relates to Reform run councils and that it is only a right wing initiative. The politics of the local authority are largely irrelevant.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/aug/20/labour-run-councils-consider-legal-challenges-to-close-hotels-housing-asylum-seekers

Why are you assuming that this only relates to Reform run councils and that it is only a right wing initiative.

I’m not.

A boarding allowance is a really good idea. By voluntarily accommodating asylum seekers in peoples homes, residents could earn additional income for themselves. The asylum seekers would be more evenly spread out across the country in individual homes making the far right protests against migrant hotels a thing of the past. The taxpayers money for accommodating the asylum seekers goes back to ordinary people rather than large hotel companies.

The asylum seekers would be able to integrate far more quickly into UK society by living with a UK family in their own homes.

And lastly given the level of support across the country to help and welcome these asylum seekers (as opposed to the minority far right elements protesting against the hotels), I'm sure that there would be no shortage of people willing to welcome an asylum seeker into their spare room in their own home and get paid for it.

There was already scheme like that for Syrian refugees years ago. I don't think it took too well

I don't understand why not - maybe it wasn't promoted properly or targeted at the right people. The scheme to accommodate Ukrainian refugees in people's homes worked out really well, so I don't see what's different.

I think one of the differences was that the Ukrainian scheme was supposed to be short temporary measure. No one expected it to be this long. They also all had their paperwork afaik so it probably felt safer to people. Documented women and children(and some men who were excused of military service).
Then it dragged on and even the neighbourhooring countries' people started losing patience tbh.

We would then lose track of who is here and where, your idea would make that even worse.

The Ukrainian scheme allowed them to work legally, then moving into rented accommodation.

Are you proposing to allow asylum seekers to work? creating yet another pull factor?