The High Court ruling that asylum seekers cannot be housed at a hotel in Epping will embolden anti-immigrant protesters, argues Jamal Elaheebocus

The High Court has ruled that a hotel in Epping cannot be used to house asylum seekers, after several weeks of anti-immigrant protests have occurred there. The interim injunction granted to Epping Forest district council sets a dangerous precedent and risks sparking further far-right protests across the country.

Epping council argued that, because of far-right protests outside the Bell Hotel and a fear of crime occurring, the area’s understood character under planning laws had been altered and that the hotel therefore must stop housing asylum seekers.

Several councils will likely now be looking to take the same action as Epping, while Epping council leaders say they are seeking a permanent injunction for the hotel.

This is causing a serious problem for the Home Office. The Home Secretary attempted to intervene in the case at the last minute, arguing that ruling in favour of Epping council would affect her statutory duty to house asylum seekers but the judge dismissed this.

If other councils are granted similar injunctions, the Home Office will struggle to house asylum seekers with the system already stretched by the slow processing of asylum claims.

Broxbourne Council, run by the Tories, has already said it is seeking legal advice to take similar action to Epping. Nigel Farage has said that the twelve councils controlled by Reform will ‘do everything in their power to follow Epping’s lead’ and hailed it as a victory.

Even more importantly, this ruling rewards protesters who are causing extreme distress to refugees. Protests have occurred at hotels in various locations including Falkirk, Canary Wharf and Dudley throughout the summer.

These protesters, and the far-right and fascist groups at the heart of organising them, will undoubtedly be emboldened by the ruling, which therefore seems seriously irresponsible at a time of such unrest and with asylum seekers at high risk of abuse or violence.

Refugees are not living in comfort in these hotels; many have reported overcrowding, poor-quality food and unsanitary conditions. Long waits for asylum claims to be processed mean people who have fled war, persecution and other desperate situations are getting stuck in a cruel wait to discover whether they have leave to remain in the UK.

The protests, which often turned violent and became full-blown riots last summer, are adding further distress to people already in extremely difficult situations and are at times putting asylum seekers at serious risk of harm.

In this situation, it is extraordinary that all the government can think to do is to echo and pander to Reform, releasing Trump-style videos of asylum seekers being deported and promising to ‘smash the gangs’ of people traffickers. This will inevitably fail and the only solution is safe and legal routes to the UK for refugees.

The government and other arms of the state are empowering the far right. We must step up the fight against them and make the argument in working-class communities that crumbling public services and plummeting living standards are not the fault of refugees, but of a cruel and broken political system.