The controversy over so-called migrant hotels has flared sharply in recent days – and with plenty of people placing the blame on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, today Express.co.uk readers are being asked: should it cost him his job? At the centre of the storm are two high-profile sites: the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, and the Britannia International Hotel in London’s Docklands. Both have been repurposed to accommodate migrants amid a national surge in asylum applications, but local communities and politicians have expressed growing frustration.
Residents near the Bell Hotel have reported overcrowding concerns and strained local services, with fears that the building is ill-equipped for long-term housing. Meanwhile anti-immigration protesters and counter-protesters descended on the Britannia International Hotel in London Docklands on Friday, where it is believed more migrants are set to be accommodated. The unease calls to mind the riots which swept through parts of the UK nearly a year ago, when several hotels hosting migrants became flashpoints of violence.
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Notably, hotels in Tamworth and Rotherham were targeted by protestors angry in the wake of the Southport murders after false rumours online suggested that the culprit was a migrant who had crossed the English Channel by dinghy.
Government officials have defended the use of such hotels as necessary stopgap measures while longer-term solutions are developed.
However, with fresh tensions bubbling, the migrant hotel issue remains a volatile flashpoint, reflecting wider challenges facing Britain’s immigration system and community cohesion.
In a letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Reform UK MP for Ashfield Lee Anderson referred to correspondence with Minister for Border Security & Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle.
He explained: “The letter stated the Home Office has a duty to support asylum seekers by ensuring they are housed in safe, secure and suitable accommodation and are treated with dignity while their claims are considered.
“I would like to ask what is ‘safe, secure and suitable’ about hotels in the middle of residential areas where unknown, unchecked foreign men are allowed to come and go as they please.
“Will the government also consider extending the same level of ‘dignity’ to the ordinary communities they are forcing to tolerate dangerous asylum accommodation.”
He added: “The letter goes on to say the Home Office does not publicly comment on individual hotels that are being used for asylum seekers, quote, ‘for the safety of asylum seekers’. What about the safety of the British people?”