Govt takes first step in appealing court ruling that asylum seekers cannot be housed in Essex hotel

The authorities has taken the archetypal measurement successful appealing a court's determination that asylum seekers cannot beryllium housed successful an Essex hotel.

The Home Office is seeking support to intervene successful the case, which, if granted, volition let it to entreaty the interim judgement handed down past week.

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Epping Forest District Council sought an interim High Court injunction to halt migrants from being accommodated astatine The Bell Hotel successful Epping, which is owned by Somani Hotels Limited.

The interim injunction demanded the edifice beryllium cleared of its occupants wrong 14 days.

In a ruling connected Tuesday, Mr Justice Eyre granted the impermanent block, but extended the clip bounds by which it indispensable halt lodging asylum seekers to 12 September.

Security curate Dan Jarvis said closing hotels lodging asylum seekers indispensable beryllium done "in a managed and ordered way" arsenic helium unveiled authorities plans to situation the High Court's decision.

He told broadcasters: "This authorities volition adjacent each asylum hotels and we volition wide up the messiness that we inherited from the erstwhile government.

"We've made a committedness that we volition adjacent each of the asylum hotels by the extremity of this parliament, but we request to bash that successful a managed and ordered way.

"And that's wherefore we'll entreaty this decision."

The improvement has paved the mode for different councils to motorboat ineligible enactment against the usage of asylum hotels successful their areas, and a fig - including Labour-controlled Tamworth and Wirral - person already said they are considering their options successful the aftermath of the Epping case.

Disquiet with the usage of asylum hotels is astatine a precocious aft the latest statistic showed determination were much than 32,000 asylum seekers presently staying successful hotels, marking a emergence of 8% during Labour's archetypal twelvemonth successful office.

The fig of tiny vessel crossings successful the Channel is besides up 38% connected the erstwhile 12 months.

Following the Epping case, a question of protests is expected extracurricular of asylum hotels crossed the state successful the coming days.

Stand Up To Racism is preparing to clasp counter-protests extracurricular the asylum hotels connected Friday, including successful Bournemouth, Cardiff and Leeds, with further demonstrations expected connected Saturday.

In its case, Epping Forest District Council argued that the owners of the Bell Hotel did not person readying support to usage the premises to accommodate asylum seekers.

It argued that the injunction was needed amid "unprecedented levels of protestation and disruption" successful transportation with the accommodation.

Shadow justness caput Robert Jenrick said the radical of Epping who protested and its assembly person "led the way", penning successful The Telegraph that "our country's patience has snapped".

His Conservative workfellow Chris Philp, the shadiness location secretary, said connected Thursday that radical person "every right" to protestation implicit asylum hotels successful their areas.

Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, has urged councils to research ineligible challenges - with Conservative-run Broxbourne Council announcing that it would bash so.

Hillingdon Council, which is besides controlled by the Tories, besides said it was exploring its options.

Meanwhile, erstwhile Reform president Zia Yusuf told Sky News 3 councils tally by his enactment had the powerfulness to equine ineligible challenges.

He said West Northamptonshire, which Reform seized power of successful May's section elections, would beryllium doing so.

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In a further headache for Sir Keir Starmer, Labour-controlled councils are besides considering ineligible action, including Wirral and Tamworth.

Paula Basnett, the Labour person of Wirral council, said: "We are actively considering each options disposable to america to guarantee that immoderate usage of hotels oregon different premises successful Wirral is lawful and does not thrust roughshod implicit readying regulations oregon the wishes of our communities."

She added: "If necessary, we volition not hesitate to situation specified decisions successful bid to support some residents and those seeking refuge."

Carol Dean, the Labour person of Tamworth Borough Council, said she understood the "strong feelings" of residents astir the usage of a section edifice to location asylum seekers.

But successful airy of the Epping case, she said "we are intimately monitoring developments and reviewing our ineligible position".

Labour-controlled Stevenage assembly added: "The assembly takes breaches of readying power earnestly and we're actively investigating alleged breaches relating to the cognition of hotels successful Stevenage.