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LEGAL

Farage: Put pressure on councils to follow Epping Forest

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has urged people to 'put pressure' on councils to go to court after a High Court ruling.

Epping Forest DC © Epping Forest District Council

Epping Forest DC © Epping Forest District Council

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has urged people to 'put pressure' on councils to go to court after a High Court ruling.

The court ruled asylum seekers could no longer be housed at the Bell Hotel in Epping, which has became the focus of protests this summer, after Conservative-run Epping Forest DC was granted a temporary injunction blocking asylum seekers from being housed there.

Other councils are now expected to follow suit.

Writing for a national newspaper, Farage said Reform-controlled councils would be 'doing everything in their power to follow Epping's lead'.

He wrote: 'It is high time that the outrageously expensive asylum hotel scheme, which nobody in Britain ever voted for, was brought down by popular demand. 

'Let everybody who is concerned write to their councillors and council leaders, demanding that they take action to empty illegal immigrants out of hotels in their communities.

'The sooner Epping-style injunctions do become the new norm adopted by local authorities around the country, the better it will be for the British people.

'Reform will also be launching a national petition demanding Government action now.'

In his ruling, Mr Justice Eyre granted the temporary injunction, ordering the hotel to stop housing asylum seekers by 12 September.

Philip Coppel KC, for the council, said the situation was ‘wholly unacceptable' and provided a ‘feeding ground for unrest', adding: ‘It really could not be much worse than this.'

Piers Riley-Smith, for the hotel owners, had argued that ‘disagreement with Government policy' did not justify a ‘draconian' injunction and there would be ‘hardship' caused to those housed at the hotel.

Mr Riley-Smith said: ‘It is clear that recent protests have expanded far beyond the local community and have gone into concerns about wider ideological and political issues from those outside the community. Those particular ideological, non-community concerns are not relevant to planning.'

Speaking after the temporary injunction was granted, council leader Chris Whitbread said: 'The last few weeks have placed an intolerable strain on our community but today we have some great news.

'Home Office policy ignores the issues and concerns of residents that the council represents.

'Today we have made a step towards redressing the imbalance and showing that local people do have some say, whatever the Home Office thinks.'

Conservative councillor Holly Whitbread added: ‘Epping is my home, and I know how strongly residents feel about the Bell Hotel.

‘As a council we took this to the High Court, and we've won on behalf of the people of Epping Forest.'

Barristers for the Home Office had asked to intervene in the case, citing the 'substantial impact' caused to the home secretary Yvette Cooper in performing her legal duties to asylum seekers.

Edward Brown KC, for the department, told the court that moving asylum seekers in 'extremely short order' would cause a 'very significant operational burden' and 'particular acute difficulties' for the Government.

Security minister Dan Jarvis insisted the Government had 'never thought that hotels were an appropriate source of accommodation for asylum seekers'.

When asked where the asylum seekers at the Bell Hotel would be moved to, he said the Government was 'looking at options' to rehouse them in 'suitably appropriate alternative accommodation'.

But Mr Justice Eyre had dismissed the Home Office's bid to intervene, insisting the department's involvement was 'not necessary'.

In a statement, Conservative-led Broxbourne BC said it would 'now take legal advice as a matter of urgency' about whether it could take similar action to Epping Forest.

Broxbourne leader Corina Gander added Epping Forest DC had 'set a precedent'.

She said: 'The Government has failed and now councils are standing up. Enough is enough now.'

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