Morning Star Editorial: The far right has now won a significant victory against asylum-seekers
Police officers outside the former Bell Hotel in Epping, July 31, 2025MONDAY’S High Court decision, that asylum-seekers must be removed from the Bell Hotel in Epping, has been correctly described by Stand Up to Racism co-convener Sabby Dhalu as a “terrible concession to racist protests organised by fascists.”
The injunction granted to Epping Forest District Council was on the basis that hotel owner Somani Hotels Ltd was in breach of planning rules since the Bell was no longer strictly a hotel.
But, during the court proceedings, the council’s legal team focused on claims that the presence of asylum-seekers at the hotel posed safety risks to children attending nearby schools and contributed to local unrest.
Protests, and anti-racist counter-protests, have been held near the hotel following an allegation — not yet proved in court — that a then-resident of the hotel attempted to kiss a local teenage girl.
Those fascist-organised protests, playing on whipped-up concerns of local residents, show an uncanny resemblance to lynch mobs by segregationists in the Southern states of the US in the past. And whether the allegation is true or not, targeting all the residents in the hotel is a racist act.
So fascist-organised protests rule the streets, OK? Anti-racist campaigners will need to be vigilant. As Dhalu added, the decision “will embolden the far right and encourage yet more protests to close down more hotels housing refugees.”
And that is precisely what has been happening since the judgment. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has hailed the court decision as a “victory,” indicating that the 12 councils where Reform is the largest party will “do everything in their power to follow Epping’s lead.” Tory-controlled Broxbourne council is also considering taking similar action.
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Government policies have effectively abandoned people fleeing war and persecution. We need safe routes for asylum-seekers to reach Britain, together with a compassionate approach to housing, the opportunity to work and fair, rapid decisions on their asylum applications.
But we must also stand up to the far right and the fascists, including via the “March against Fascism — Stand up to Tommy Robinson” in London on September 13.
