Three Tory councils are looking at taking legal action against migrant hotels, the Shadow Home Secretary has revealed. Chris Philp said Broxbourne, Reigate and Banstead, and Hillingdon were weighing up the move.
It comes after Epping Council secured a temporary injunction from the High Court earlier this week blocking the use of the Essex town’s Bell Hotel as accommodation for asylum seekers on planning grounds. Asked “how many Tory councils are considering legal action”, Mr Philp told BBC Breakfast: “There are certainly a number who are actively considering it. Broxbourne, which is next door to Epping, is one of them. I think Reigate and Banstead is another, Hillingdon is yet a third.
“So, I think there are many up and down the country who are looking at this following the Epping ruling.”
Mr Philp later added: “I think these councils are, you know, sick and tired of having these asylum hotels housing predominantly young men who entered the country illegally in their communities.
“They want to see them closing down and that is why I think they’re rightly looking at legal action.”
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has called for more Conservative town halls to launch legal challenges over migrant hotels.
In a letter to local authorities controlled by her party, Mrs Badenoch said she was “encouraging” them to “take the same steps” as Epping “if your legal advice supports it”.
Tuesday’s High Court decision has caused a major headache for the Government over its policy of accommodation for asylum seekers.
The decision has prompted councils controlled by the Conservatives, Reform UK and even some Labour to investigate whether they could pursue a similar course of action.
A Labour spokesperson said Mrs Badenoch’s letter was a “pathetic stunt” and “desperate and hypocritical nonsense from the architects of the broken asylum system”, saying there were now “20,000 fewer asylum seekers in hotels than at their peak under the Tories”.