A top Labour minister has stood by the move to keep a controversial migrant hotel open amid fears axing it would have sparked ‘disruption’. 

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson defended the Home Office’s stance, stating that prioritizing the rights of asylum seekers over local residents in Epping, Essex was justified.

She explained that shutting down the town’s Bell Hotel—a site of unrest following allegations of a sexual assault by an asylum seeker—would create ‘lots of disruption’ and result in homelessness.

Her statements coincide with Nigel Farage’s warning that Labour risks severe electoral losses due to the ordeal, potentially boosting his Reform UK party’s support.

In an interview with the Mail, Mr. Farage commented: ‘The question is “whose side are you on?” The government chose the illegal immigrants in Epping. Reform stands with the mothers of Epping, leading more voters our way.’

The Government achieved a contentious court win on Friday, permitting asylum seekers to remain at The Bell Hotel, despite numerous intense protests at the site.

Epping Forest District Council previously secured an injunction to prevent the hotel from housing migrants, following a series of violent demonstrations.

However, the Home Office fought the ban – with Court of Appeal judges revoking the ‘seriously flawed’ verdict on Friday in a landmark ruling that sparked fury nationally. 

Ms Phillipson defended the claim that the rights of asylum seekers were more important than those of local families living near hotels.

She told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme: ‘I completely understand why many people in places like Epping, where hotels have opened up, feel incredibly frustrated about that. 

‘They have a right to demonstrate lawfully and peacefully. But where it crosses a line that isn’t consistent with our long-standing traditions in this country of respect for the rule of law, respect for the police and our responsibility to make sure that we have safe communities for everybody living there.’

Her comments come despite a dire warning from former Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer, who said Sir Keir now faces haemorrhaging support over the crisis if Labour does not axe the hotels. 

Lord Falconer, who served under former prime minister Sir Tony Blair, said: ‘The Government always has the burden of doing what’s possible and the Government is doing the right thing in relation to it, but there’s a lot more to do, and if we don’t, as a government, do it, then you’ll see those opinion polls raised yet further for Reform, because they don’t have the burden of having to be practical.

‘But the country wants some action in relation to it.’

If the Epping injunction had not been overturned on Friday, 138 asylum seekers would have been ejected from The Bell from September 12. 

Protests flared up across the country yesterday in the wake of the decision, amid accusations Labour is ‘taking the side of migrants over Britons’. 

Following the Court of Appeal decision, a grinning migrant was caught on camera giving protesters outside an asylum hotel the middle finger just hours after the government won a controversial legal victory. 

The young man was seen at the window of the Roundhouse hotel in Bournemouth, Dorset last night as around 200 demonstrators called for it to be shut down. 

Photos show campaigners holding Union and England flags gathering outside hotels in Swindon, Oldham, Newcastle, Falkirk and Stoke-on-Trent, among other places on Saturday.

Counter demonstrations were also held – with the group Stand Up To Racism calling on its supporters to rally against what it called ‘far-right and fascist thugs’. 

In Newcastle, cries of ‘send them back’ and ‘stop the boats’ were met with loud choruses of ‘no hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here’ by an equal number of counter protesters.

At one point, the far-right protesters, decked out in Union flags, broke into a spontaneous rendition of ‘Rule Britannia.’

Meanwhile, angry activists who descended on a Falkirk hotel were met by hundreds of counter protesters.

Two separate demonstrations were called by the Save Our Future and Our Kids Futures group in the town yesterday, amid fears of local people about alleged crimes linked to those housed at the Cladhan Hotel.

The first saw hundreds gather outside the office of Labour MP Euan Stainbank, where speeches were made, and people took aim at the UK Government, the police and journalists who were covering the protest.

More than 200 later assembled outside the nearby Cladhan Hotel, which is believed to house asylum seekers waiting for their claims to be processed.

It comes as at least 19 councils have vowed to fight back against the Court of Appeal’s decision and press ahead with campaigns to shut down asylum hotels in their areas. 

According to The Times, this includes at least four Labour-run authorities – Wirral Council, Stevenage Borough Council, Tamworth Borough Council and Rushmoor Borough Council. 

Reform UK has called on the 12 councils it controls to start exploring legal options to stop asylum seekers being housed in local hotels.

However, this morning Mr Farage’s party was accused of ‘whipping up anger’ about immigration by Ms Phillipson, who said Reform did not have an answer to the crisis.

Speaking on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News, the minister said: ‘I understand the frustration that people feel, because I understand when they see, for example, asylum hotels and big numbers of people in their community.

‘I understand how that can make people feel.

‘But Nigel Farage and Reform, they don’t actually want to sort this problem – interests are served by whipping up anger rather than fixing it.’

Asked what the difference is between what the Labour Government says on immigration and what Reform says, Ms Phillipson replied: ‘The difference is we’ll actually take action.’

Reform UK’s deputy leader said it was ‘ridiculous’ to suggest his party could encourage people to break into hotels and intimidate asylum seekers.

Asked if he could be clear there was ‘no encouragement’ from the party to ‘the sort of person who wants to break into asylum hotels in masks and to intimidate asylum seekers’, Richard Tice said: ‘Of course, what a ridiculous suggestion.’

‘It’s an outrageous suggestion. Of course we’re not suggesting that,’ he added.

‘We’ve always suggested lawful, peaceful protest, nothing else.’

In further criticism, the Archbishop of York said the UK should resist Reform’s ‘kneejerk’ plan for the mass deportation of migrants.

Stephen Cottrell said he has ‘every sympathy’ with people who are worried about asylum seekers coming to the country illegally but warned Mr Farage is not offering any ‘long-term solution’ to the crisis.

He slammed the plan announced by Reform on Tuesday to deport 600,000 people, which would be enabled by striking deals with the Taliban and Iran, saying it will not ‘solve the problem’.

Mr Cottrell, who is currently acting spiritual head of the Church of England while a new Archbishop of Canterbury is chosen, told Sky News Reform has ‘done nothing to address the issue of what brings people to this country’.

‘And so if you think that’s the answer, you will discover in due course that all you have done is made the problem worse,’ he warned. 

Sir Keir Starmer responded to the unrest by promising small boat migrants will be ‘detained and sent back’.

In a social media post, Sir Keir said: ‘I am clear: we will not reward illegal entry. If you cross the Channel unlawfully, you will be detained and sent back.’

The government has previously argued that the need to protect the human rights of asylum seekers by housing them in hotels, outweighed the safety concerns of local families. 

However, MPs and the local council reacted furiously to the decision to keep housing asylum seekers in Epping, with Reform leader Nigel Farage saying illegal migrants now had more rights than Britons under Sir Keir Starmer.

Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch also accused the prime minister of ‘putting the rights of illegal immigrants above the rights of British people’. 

If the Epping injunction had not been overturned on Friday, some 138 asylum seekers would no longer have been able to be housed there beyond September 12.

The case could have had wider ramifications, as more than 200 hotels are being used to house asylum seekers around the country.

Lord Falconer said the Government was right to take the Epping case to the Court of Appeal but said people were demanding action to close asylum hotels.

He rejected suggestions that the UK may have to pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights to be able to efficiently remove people with no right to be in the country.

‘We’ve obviously got to move forward in relation to closing the hotels and also stopping the crossings,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today.

Last night anger began building outside The Bell Hotel in Epping at the news of the ruling. 

The council said the owners of the three-star hotel had breached planning rules by using it as accommodation for small-boat migrants.

Somani Hotels, which owns the establishment, and the Home Office challenged the injunction.

The three Court of Appeal judges said last week’s decision by High Court judge Mr Justice Eyre was ‘seriously flawed’.

Lord Justice Bean, sitting with Lady Justice Nicola Davies and Lord Justice Cobb, said: ‘We conclude that the judge made a number of errors in principle, which undermine this decision.

‘The judge’s approach ignores the obvious consequence that the closure of one site means capacity needs to be identified elsewhere.’ 

Lord Justice Bean added that such an injunction ‘may incentivise’ other councils to take steps similar to those taken by Epping.

Lawyers for Home Secretary Yvette Cooper had argued that shutting the hotel would set a ‘dangerous precedent’ which would have encouraged similar litigation by other councils.

Mr Farage claimed the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) had been ‘used’ by the Government ‘against the people of Epping’.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the Epping case had ‘seen the Labour Government using the courts against the British public’.

He added: ‘The Government even brazenly said in court that the rights of illegal immigrants were more important than the rights of local people.

‘The numbers in asylum hotels were dropping fast before the election – but have risen since because Labour has lost control of our borders.’

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick called the ruling ‘extremely disappointing’ as he urged councils to still take action to close asylum hotels in their areas.

He said: ‘Yvette Cooper’s decision to put two fingers up to the legitimate anger of the British public will surely inspire even more protests across the country. People are fed up with the Government siding with illegal migrants over the British people.’ 

Epping council said it was ‘deeply disappointed’ by the ruling, which had led to ‘doubt and confusion’.

Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon said while the Government was successful in its appeal, the reality of using hotels to house asylum seekers was ‘untenable’ and called for refugees to be housed in neighbourhoods.

He said: ‘Waiting until 2029 to end their use is no longer an option. As long as hotels remain open, they will continue to be flashpoints for protest.’

Border security minister Dame Angela Eagle said: ‘We inherited a chaotic asylum accommodation system costing billions.

‘This government will close all hotels by the end of this Parliament and we appealed this judgment so hotels like the Bell can be exited in a controlled and orderly way that avoids the chaos of recent years that saw 400 hotels open at a cost of £9million a day.’

Epping’s legal challenge followed a series of protests outside the hotel amid accusations of sexual assault regarding two men being housed there.

Some protests involved clashes with police, resulting in six men being charged with violent disorder, two of whom have pleaded guilty. Two residents of the Bell Hotel have been charged with sexual assault.

Essex Police were anticipating trouble last night, with as many as four marked vans parked on the hotel’s forecourt from early in the afternoon, and ten officers standing outside. Migrants had reportedly been advised to stay inside.

Within minutes of the judges’ decision, local Conservative councillor Shane Yerrell arrived at the hotel. 

He said: ‘This decision is disgusting. I’ve just been on the phone with the father of the girl whose sexual assault case involving one of the migrants has been in court this week.

‘This decision is disgusting for them. Local mums and dads want the hotel closed – as the first judgment said.’

The number of protesters outside the hotel was growing by 5pm, with new arrivals including ‘pink ladies’ great-grandmother-of-five Shirley Mooney, 68, alongside her neighbour and fellow grandmother Carmen MacDonald, 60.

Both were wearing T-shirts with ‘The only way is Epping’ on the front – and ‘Send them home, protect our kids’ on the back.

Ms Mooney worked in the Bell as a manager until 1998, said of the latest judgment: ‘I am absolutely disgusted. It’s horrific, a joke.

‘Whose side are these judges on? They need the sack. As soon as we heard the news, we came down here to show our support. We won’t stop.’

The only person here celebrating the judgment last night was a migrant resident.

Advised by staff not to speak or leave his room, he texted your reporter to say of the judges’ decision: ‘I am pleased. ‘It had been a worry.’