Archiving the “strange death of Europe,” as Douglas Murray put it, at the hands of the Brussels bureaucracy and its hordes of imported “migrants.”
Asylum seekers take priority in ‘hierarchy of rights,’ rules British court
By way of brief background, the local Epping Forest council attempted to close a migrant “hotel;” the national government sued to prevent it.
Via The Telegraph (emphasis added):
Asylum seekers’ rights are more important than the concerns of the people of Epping, the Home Office has declared.
On Friday, a judge will rule whether Epping Forest district council can close a hotel housing illegal migrants or the Home Office can continue to use it to house asylum seekers.
On Thursday, Home Office lawyers told the Court of Appeal that Yvette Cooper had a duty as Home Secretary to prevent asylum seekers from being made destitute under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and so they should continue to live at the Bell Hotel.
They claimed this responsibility trumped the council’s powers to close the hotel, which has been at the centre of protests in recent weeks after an asylum seeker living there was accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old schoolgirl.
On Thursday night police clashed with protesters who tried to swarm the hotel in a fresh protest.
But government lawyers said the “relevant public interests in play are not equal” and “are fundamentally different in nature”…
In documents submitted to the court, Home Office lawyers said: “Epping represents the public interest that subsists in planning control in its local area.
“The [Home Secretary] is taken for these purposes as representing the public interest of the entirety of the United Kingdom and discharging obligations conferred on her alone by Parliament. Epping’s interest in enforcement of planning control is important and in the public interest.
“However, the [Home Secretary’s] statutory duty is a manifestation of the United Kingdom’s obligations under article three ECHR, which establishes non-derogable fundamental human rights.”
Basically, the government lawyers argued that a foreign treaty — the legitimacy of which is suspect given that Britain exited the European Union in 2020, but that’s a separate and convoluted matter — trumps any domestic interest that a council has in administering public housing.
Related: Polish High Court Rules National Sovereignty Supersedes EU Authority, EU Sues
The Court of Appeals ultimately ruled in favor of the Home Office; the migrant hotels will continue running as intended.
Letting the veneer of good governance slip, they admitted that allowing the closure of one migrant hotel at the hands of local authorities would “incentivize” others to follow suit, which would obviously throw a monkey wrench in the whole replacement migration machine.
Via Independent (UK) (emphasis added):
Police are braced for further anti-migrant protests after judges revoked a ban on housing asylum seekers at an Essex hotel that has been plagued by unrest.
Court of Appeal judges ruled that the closure of The Bell Hotel in Epping would have “obvious consequences” on the government’s duty to house asylum seekers and would “incentivise” other councils to seek similar legal action if allowed…
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp accused Labour of “using the courts against the British public”.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called on Conservative councils to continue to seek similar injunctions against hotels in their areas, with several already confirming they would take legal action.
The Times reported that at least 13 other councils are considering pressing ahead with legal action. Among them are several Labour-run authorities, the newspaper said..
Related: British PM: We Censor Anti-Migrant Protests ‘For the Children’
Member of Parliament Bridget Phillipson of the Labour Party, the analogue of a Democrat Congressperson, fielded the very straightforward question: “Your lawyers under your guidance have said in terms that the rights of asylum seekers are more important than the rights of local people in Epping Forest…. Ministers can say we agree with that or we don’t agree with it… Do you agree with what your lawyers said or don’t you?”
Her answer: "Yes, of course we do" — a spit in the eye of all of her constituents.
WTF have I just watched?!
— Lee Harris (@addicted2newz) August 31, 2025
Labour MP Bridget Phillipson is asked if she agrees with the Home Office that the rights of illegal migrants are more important than the rights of the people of Epping.
"Yes, of course we do"
They don't even bother to hide it.
Utterly vile. pic.twitter.com/8VgBma3MfD
