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:
Speaking to Adam Boulton on Times Radio about kicking the Golders Green suspect, Heidi Alexander said:
“I thought that if I was in the shoes of that police officer, then if I’m honest, given the situation, and the fact that he had a backpack on his back, and they were worried about whether that might go off, I could, if I was a police officer, frankly, I could see myself having taken similar action.”