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KEIR Starmer is planning on overhauling the asylum appeals system in a desperate bid to move migrants out of hotels faster.
The Prime Minister wants to deport unsuccessful asylum seekers through a new fast-track system.
It comes amid growing unrest over migrant hotels, with protests cropping up all over the country.
An estimated 27 demonstrations are taking place over the bank holiday weekend in major UK cities.
Labour MP Steve Yemm has encouraged Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to adopt a tough approach on illegal immigration akin to Donald Trump’s policies and to consider deportation strategies similar to those used in Rwanda.
The Times reported that the tribunal courts used by unsuccessful refugees to challenge Home Office decisions will be phased out under new plans.
Instead, they will be replaced by a fast-track system.
The proposed plans aim to empower a new agency to handle cases involving migrants living in government-funded housing and foreign criminals who should have already been expelled from the country.
These are due to be set out when MPs return to parliament.
These proposals have been in development for several months, reportedly advanced in reaction to the pivotal Epping ruling, along with other local councils showing similar willingness to act.
The Home Secretary said “completely unacceptable” delays in the appeals process left failed asylum seekers in the system for years.
There are about 51,000 asylum appeals waiting to be heard, taking on average more than a year to reach a decision.
While initial decision-making processes have been improved, delayed court appeals are now seen as the primary factor putting a strain on the asylum housing system.
The Government plans to set up a new independent panel focused on asylum appeals to help reduce the backlog.
The new independent body will use professionally-trained adjudicators, rather than relying on judges.
The government is setting a new 24-week target for the first-tier tribunal to resolve asylum and foreign criminal appeals for those receiving housing support.
However, officials remain concerned that the existing tribunal system, which addresses various cases, is inadequate in returning failed asylum applicants promptly and lacks a fast-track process for asylum seekers from deemed safe countries.
The Government will set out further details of plans for asylum system reforms in the autumn, drawing on lessons from other European countries which have faster appeals systems – including some which run independent appeals bodies similar to the one being proposed.
The Home Secretary said the overhaul would result in a system which is “swift, fair and independent, with high standards in place”.
She said: “We inherited an asylum system in complete chaos with a soaring backlog of asylum cases and a broken appeals system with thousands of people in the system for years on end.
“That is why we are taking practical steps to fix the foundations and restore control and order to the system.
“We are determined to substantially reduce the number of people in the asylum system as part of our plan to end asylum hotels.
“Already since the election we have reduced the backlog of people waiting for initial decisions by 24% and increased failed asylum returns by 30%.
“But we cannot carry on with these completely unacceptable delays in appeals as a result of the system we have inherited which mean that failed asylum seekers stay in the system for years on end at huge cost to the taxpayer.”
RECORD MIGRANT NUMBERS
Official figures released earlier this month showed a total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
The record level of applications comes as the backlog of people waiting for an initial decision on their claims dropped to 90,812 at the end of June.
There were 32,059 asylum seekers in UK hotels by the end of June.
Labour has promised to end the use of the sites by 2029.
Protests by groups opposed to the use of hotels and counter-demonstrations took place in towns and cities across the UK on Saturday.
In Bristol, mounted police were brought in to separate rival groups in the Castle Park, and officers scuffled with protesters.
A 37-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker.
Avon and Somerset Police said no officer sustained serious physical injury or has required hospital treatment, but inquiries will be carried out after reports of assaults on them.
In Liverpool there were 11 arrests for offences including being drunk and disorderly, assault and affray, as a UK Independence Party protest was met by a counter-demonstration.
In Horley, Surrey, about 200 anti-immigration protesters draped in St George and Union flags clashed with roughly 50 Stand Up to Racism protesters.
The two groups almost came together in the early afternoon, with lines of police separating them.
Three people were arrested, two for breach of the peace and one for breaching the conditions of a community protection notice, Surrey Police said.
On Tuesday, the High Court granted Epping Forest District Council a temporary injunction to remove asylum seekers from the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, from September 12.
Regular protests had been held outside the hotel in recent weeks after an asylum seeker was charged with trying to kiss a 14-year-old girl, which he denies.
The Government announced plans on Friday to appeal against the High Court’s refusal to allow it to intervene in the case, and to further appeal against the temporary injunction.
Other councils also publicly announced their intention to seek legal advice as to whether they could achieve a similar injunction for hotels in their areas.
What was the landmark Epping ruling?
By Julia Atherley, Home Affairs Correspondent
ASYLUM seekers will be kicked out of a flashpoint hotel after a council yesterday won a court battle to ban them living there.
The decision is a huge blow to the Government’s policy of housing migrants in hotels.
A High Court judge ruled the move to accommodate the migrants over paying customers at The Bell Hotel may breach planning rules.
Epping Forest District Council launched the legal challenge after protests erupted in recent weeks.
Public anger grew after a migrant living at the hotel in Epping, Essex, was charged with sexual assault.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the ruling throws Labour’s asylum policy into chaos.
Other councils are now poised to launch their own legal challenges to the Home Office scheme.
Twelve hotels located in areas where Reform UK has a majority are understood to be planning their own court battles.
Corina Gander, Tory leader of Broxbourne Borough Council, Herts, said the decision had set a “massive precedent” and boosted their efforts to close a migrant hotel.
The temporary injunction, subject to appeal, means everyone being put up at The Bell must leave before September 12, with a hearing to decide whether to make it permanent later in the year.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s 11th-hour bid to get the case dismissed was refused by the judge.
A lawyer for the Home Office warned the decision would “substantially impact” its ability to house asylum seekers in hotels.
After a hearing in London’s High Court last week, Mr Justice Eyre said Somani Hotels Limited, owners of The Bell Hotel, had “sidestepped public scrutiny” by not applying for planning permission to convert it to migrant use.
In his judgment, he said that while the council in Epping had not “definitively established” Somani Hotels had breached planning rules, “the strength of the claimant’s case is such that it weighs in favour” of granting the injunction.
He also said the fear of crime being committed by migrants was a “relevant factor” and it is “understandable” that recent arrests “form a basis for the local concern”.
