Home Office claims ruling closing migrant hotel could cause new violent protests

Government takes Epping injunction case to Court of Appeal

- HOLLY BANCROFT

Allowing a ban on housing asylum seekers at a protest-hit hotel risks more disorder and could have a “serious impact” on the UK’s ability to house migrants, the Home Office has claimed.

The government has applied to be allowed to appeal an interim High Court injunction, which stops asylum seekers from being housed at The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex. Epping Forest District Council won the temporary ban after a series of violent anti-migrant protests resulted in multiple arrests and saw several police officers injured.

The hotel owners, Somani Hotels Ltd, and the Home Office were at the Court of Appeal yesterday seeking permission to overturn the ban, which threatens to throw the government’s asylum policy into chaos if more councils seek similar vetoes.

In documents submitted to court, the home secretary Yvette Cooper said that the injunction “essentially incentivises” other councils who wish to close down migrant hotels in their areas to seek legal action and argued that “the available asylum estate is subject to incredibly high levels of demand”.

Becca Jones, director of asylum support at the Home Office, said the loss of the bed spaces in The Bell Hotel would be “significant” amid rising small boat crossings and limited available accommodation. She said that the Home Office would “face considerable difficulties in re-accommodating them [asylum seekers] appropriately”.