Home Office rules on asylum hotels tightened as more protests expected

Asylum seekers who refuse to move out of hotels to new accommodation will have their support withdrawn, the Home Office has said, before fresh protests in Essex this weekend.

- Rowena Mason Ben Quinn Kevin Rawlinson

Angela Eagle, a Home Office minister, said the government was working to "close hotels, restore order, and put fairness and value for money at the heart of our asylum system".

The government is concerned about the risk of unrest spreading after disorder at the Bell hotel in Epping, Essex over the last week led to nine people being charged.

Some of the protests were orchestrated by far-right figures, with demonstrations spreading to a handful of other places.

The Epping protest was sparked by the charging of Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, a 38-year-old asylum seeker, with sexual assault over allegedly trying to kiss a 14-year-old. He denied the charge at Chelmsford magistrates court and will stand trial next month.

With tensions high, the government said it was clamping down on "abuse" of the system for housing asylum seekers in hotels with its new "failure to travel guidance".