Reform UK accused of 'stoking anger' over asylum hotels as protests continue across the country
Reform UK has been accused of “stoking anger” over asylum hotels as tensions continue to rise across the country.
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Speaking to LBC, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson hit out at Reform’s leadership as she insisted Labour will “bring down” the number of asylum hotels in the UK before the next election.
It comes after the Home Office won the right to appeal the closure of an asylum hotel in Epping, Essex, at the centre of a wave of protests.
Epping Forest District Council had been granted an interim injunction by the High Court, meaning the town’s Bell Hotel would need to remove all asylum seekers by September 12.
But on Friday, the Home Office won its appeal against the decision - allowing asylum seekers to stay at the property for the time being.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage slammed the ruling, claiming “illegal migrants have more rights than the British people under Starmer.”
Hitting back at Mr Farage, the Education Secretary said: “It's the Conservatives who left us with this terrible mess…Reform are just stoking anger.
“We are determined to bring down the use of asylum hotels and close them
“That's why we took the decision to challenge the Epping decision.
“People in this country have the right to safe and legal protest.”
Reform UK has come under fire in recent days for its hardline stance on immigration, including from senior figures in the Church of England.
Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell said the Reform UK leader, who has promised mass deportations, was not offering a solution to the “big issues” driving people to risk the English Channel crossing.
The Reform UK leader has set out plans to remove up to 600,000 people from the country if he forms the next government.
The archbishop, the most senior figure in the Church of England in the absence of an archbishop of Canterbury, was asked for his response to people suggesting that arrivals in the UK would get locked up and deported straight away.
“I’d say to them: you haven’t solved the problem,” he said.
“You’ve just put it somewhere else and you’ve 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.”
Responding to this, Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice said the Church should “get its own house in order” and stay out of politics.