A police officer shouts at a man in the road as protesters march into the town centre of Epping, England on July 20, 2025 from a demonstration outside The Bell Hotel.
Justin Tallis / AFP
Nigel Farage says “heads must roll” after Essex Police were accused of stirring tensions at a demonstration against an asylum hotel.
Locals’ protests in Epping, Essex, against a migrant hotel housing an unknown number of male asylum seekers were peaceful until police escorted pro-migrant activists to the scene, making violence inevitable.
Officers initially denied busing ‘Stand up to Racism’ and other activists—some of them masked—to the Bell Hotel, which is located just ten minutes away from a secondary school, before being shown video evidence. Then they turned to excuse-making, saying, for example, that this police escort of about 50 people was a “public safety decision.”
Six people have now been charged with offences related to the disorder in Epping following several days of protests, which began after an asylum seeker was accused of sexual assault.
Labour Migration Minister Seema Malhotra said—in an expectedly evasive manner—that police officials “have questions to answer” about the incident.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was far more to-the-point in his analysis of events, insisting that “heads must roll” after what he described as “one of the most extraordinary acts I’ve seen from the police force in my lifetime.”
What on earth were Essex police thinking? Is it that they just hate so much ordinary residents determined to stand up for their own rights? I don’t know the answer to that question. What I do know is what Essex police have done here is absolutely disgraceful.
🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨
This video proves @EssexPoliceUK transported left-wing protestors to The Bell hotel in Epping.
Ben-Julian Harrington, the chief constable of Essex Police, on Wednesday morning refused to resign, saying, “This is not about me; this is about the communities of Essex.”
He also rejected accusations that greater protections were given to pro-migration activists than to locals demonstrating against the asylum hotel. But critics say the actions of his force are yet another example of “two-tier justice.”
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_.
