Police officers and protesters scuffle outside the council offices in Epping after a march from the Bell Hotel which houses asylum seekers, on August 31, 2025.
Chris J Ratcliffe / AFP
Councils across the country are still considering action similar to Epping’s despite the latest setback.
The temporary injunction to close a migrant hotel that had prompted schools to tell parents their children should avoid certain parts of town in Epping, Essex, was a positive step. So there was no way it could last.
The Court of Appeal overturned the injunction on Friday after the Labour government argued that its duties towards asylum seekers under the Strasbourg-based European Convention of Human Rights were “fundamentally different” from Epping Forest district council’s planning responsibilities.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson then rubbed salt in the wound, saying the government “of course” believes “that the rights of asylum seekers are more important than the rights of local people in Epping Forest.”
“Shame on them,” responded Reform leader Nigel Farage.
Labour has finally admitted they believe the rights of illegal migrants are more important than the rights of local people in Epping.
But Epping residents have already shown that they won’t simply lie down and take this defeat. Instead, there is talk that constituents will refuse to pay their local council tax payments because of the ruling, with one voter quoted in the Mail as saying:
What is the point of paying our council tax if it is being directly used to fund a place which houses alleged sex attackers? And it funds a place which is causing huge worry and anxiety to locals. Girls are being followed. It goes against everything which council tax is for. We know the consequences.
Epping Forest District Council, which has been under ginormous pressure from the local population, also says it is “ruling nothing out” and may even take its bid to the Supreme Court.
And other councils across England remain determined to take similar action against migrant hotels in their areas, despite this setback.
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Epping’s Bell Hotel on Sunday, August 31st, calling for foreign criminals to be deported. A t-shirt worn by one young girl read: “Send them home, please protect me.”
Four arrests were made.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
