The temporary injunction preventing migrants from being housed at the Bell Hotel in Epping has been overturned in the Court of Appeal. Asylum seekers will be allowed to remain in the hotel…
Lord Justice Bean said:
“Ad hoc interim injunction applications seeking closure of particular sites may each have some individual merits but the judge’s approach ignores the obvious consequence.”
“The closure of one site means that capacity needs to be identified elsewhere in the system and may incentivise local planning authorities who wish to remove asylum accommodation from their area to apply to the court urgently before capacity elsewhere in the system becomes exhausted…”
“We grant permission to appeal, both to Somani and to [the Home Office]… We allow the appeals and we set aside the injunction imposed on 19 August 2025.”
Champagne corks are about to pop in the Home Office. More on Justice Bean’s background here…
UPDATE: Epping Forest District Council leader Chris Whitbread, speaking to Times Radio:
Lord Khan in the Telegraph: “I hope, and I say this in a non-pompous way, that the public service I do will bring rewards in this world and the hereafter,” he says. “I’m hoping the work I do is earning me Brownie points.”