Migrants to be removed from hotel after council wins injunction
The council's lawyers claimed that Somani Hotels had breached planning rules, given the site is not being used for its intended purpose. The barristers argued that the situation 'could not be much worse', with Philip Coppel KC adding: 'There has been what can be described as an increase in community tension, the catalyst of which has been the use of the Bell Hotel to place asylum seekers'. They sought an injunction that would require Somani Hotels to stop housing asylum seekers at the location within 24 days – which lawyers for the hotel owners fumed would be a 'draconian' move.
The government staged an unsuccessful eleventh-hour intervention, with Edward Brown KC insisting for the Home Office that the injunction 'runs the risk of acting as an impetus for further violent protests'. And now ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe has written to Yvette Cooper, making a series of demands on Keir Starmer's administration. The letter states:
Hotels were never a sustainable solution… They have become flashpoints of migrant disorder, hostility and in some case serious criminal allegations. It is pure chaos.
In short – DETAIN, DEPORT. That is how we stop the boats.
It's certainly a significant decision – and one that poses tricky questions for the government down the line…
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Daily Mirror
a minute ago
- Daily Mirror
Lucy Connolly is no martyr, she's a racist. It's the truth that's being twisted
Lucy Connolly's post wasn't just a tweet and wasn't a one off - the ex-Tory councillor's wife was exposed for sending more vile messages and posts before her hateful Southport statement First, the facts. Lucy Connolly pleaded guilty in court to writing a social media post intending to stir up racial hatred. She'd called for 'mass deportation now' in a social media post to her 10,000 followers on X on the day three children were killed in a knife attack in Southport. In the expletive-ridden message she said: 'set fire to all the f*****g hotels full of the b***** for all I care' concluding: 'if that makes me racist so be it'. The post was later deleted but police established it had been available for at least three and a half hours. So, in short, the wife of a Conservative councillor called for hotels housing asylum seekers to be set on fire. Judge Melbourne Inman KC said Connolly had been 'well aware of how volatile the situation was' at the time of the Southport attack, volatility that led to serious disorder in a number of areas. Your message was widely read – it was viewed 310,000 times with 940 reposts, 58 quotes and 113 bookmarks,' he said. It wasn't just a tweet. She'd broken the law. She accepted as much, which was why she pleaded guilty. It wasn't just a tweet. Connolly had had form for xenophobic, anti-Black and anti-migrant rhetoric on social media which a glance at her timeline would show up. It clearly wasn't a one off. In fact, the court was told that the day before she was arrested, Connolly had sent a WhatsApp message saying the 'raging tweet about burning down hotels has bit me on the arse lol'. She also said she'd 'play the mental health card' if arrested, and would deny responsibility for the post if asked. The full picture tells a different story to the one that the liars, racists and xenophobes would have you believe. And if Connolly truly believed in her innocence she would not have sought what she believed to be a lesser sentence. Nor does this have anything whatsoever to do with censorship. If Connolly wanted to write the same things again she'd be free to do so. Twitter would allow her post to remain, but the law of the land would find her guilty and she would likely go back to prison for a lot longer. Because contrary to what the thugs and bigots masquerading as people who simply care about their families won't tell you is that free speech does exist. You are free to say whatever you like. But you will also be free to accept the consequences. Free speech doesn't spare you from the consequences of shouting 'Fire' in a packed cinema when there isn't one, sparking panic and most likely serious injury. The likes of Nigel Farage, Richard Tice and the rest of Reform UK, with risible Tory leader Kemi Badenoch chasing the bandwagon, are throwing out any number of incendiary perspectives on this incident to whip up anger and division. Which is why it was so important for the Daily Mirror to take a stand on Thursday. The country is a tinderbox with a significant number of people in public life who should know better encouraging vigilante mobs, stoking fear and loathing and telling straight up lies. Now that she is out, the liars will use Connolly as a martyr. And the engagement-chasing sections of the media, happy to whip up division will indulge them. The liars will paint Connolly as a demure, childminder mum put through hell for a simple tweet. They won't mention her other tweets, among them one referring to Somalis with vomiting emojis, the one reacting to an anti-racism protest by suggesting those taking a stand should house: 'an illegal boat invader'. They won't let the truth get in the way of a carefully stage-managed bid to rehabilitate a woman whose prejudice is well documented. But we will.
The Independent
30 minutes ago
- The Independent
Epping asylum hotel numbers grew by 611% between March and June
A council at the centre of a legal case to block a hotel from housing asylum seekers was among the top 10 UK local authorities which saw the biggest rise in numbers staying in this kind of accommodation in recent months. Epping Forest District Council in Essex went from housing 28 asylum seekers in hotels in its area in March this year, to 199 by the end of June. The latest data breakdown, published by the Home Office on Thursday, comes two days after the council secured a High Court temporary injunction blocking the use of Epping 's Bell Hotel as accommodation for asylum seekers on planning grounds. The legal case followed protests and counter-protests outside the Bell Hotel. There were 124 local authorities across the UK housing asylum seekers in hotels at the end of June, according to the Home Office data. This is around a third of all UK authorities. The Home Office has a legal obligation to provide accommodation to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute and, when there is not enough housing, can move people to alternatives such as hotels and large sites, like former military bases. The latest figures show that Manchester City Council was the local authority with the biggest numerical jump in people staying in hotels, from 874 at the end of March to 1,158 at the end of June. This was followed by Birmingham City Council, which rose from 1,018 to 1,226 over the same period. Both Warwick District Council and West Northamptonshire Council followed, seeing rises of 197 over the three-month period. The former went from housing 168 asylum seekers in hotels to 365, while the latter saw a rise from 201 to 398. Blackpool Borough Council had the same numerical rise as Epping Forest, both increasing by 171 people between March and June. But the overall numbers for Blackpool are higher – housing 389 asylum seekers in hotels at the end of June, up from 218 at the end of March. Protests have also been held outside the Britannia International Hotel in London's Canary Wharf amid reports it was set to be used to offer temporary accommodation for asylum seekers. The latest data showed that while there were 319 asylum seekers being housed in hotels in that local authority of Tower Hamlets, there were none at the end of June there. Last month, there was a protest outside a hotel reportedly housing migrants in Bowthorpe near Norwich. The number of asylum seekers being housed in hotels in the Norwich City Council area rose by 46 between the end of March and the end of June, from 161 to 207.
STV News
30 minutes ago
- STV News
Murder victim collapsed in partner's arms after attack, court hears
The partner of Tony Ferns has told how he 'collapsed in her arms' the night he was allegedly murdered. The woman became emotional as she recalled the 33-year-old shouting that he had been 'stabbed' moments after he had dropped her off at home. The 36-year-old was giving evidence at the High Court in Glasgow. Raymond Platt, 56, Craig Colquhoun, 39, Robert Park, 69, Joseph McCulloch, 50, are on trial accused of killing the tiler in Crebar Street, Thornliebank, East Renfrewshire, on April 18, 2019. They deny the murder charge. The woman told how she and Tony had been a couple for three years before he passed away. Tony lived with his mum Phyllis, 67, in Thornliebank, but would sometimes stay with his partner at her home nearby. She had been working at a local One-O-One shop on the night of the alleged attack, but at a different branch from usual. The couple's 'routine' would be for Tony to pick her up in his Audi at the end of a shift. CCTV footage played in court showed her being collected that evening. The witness told how Tony then dropped her off at home after parking in his usual spot outside. The mum then left the car to get her sister, who had been babysitting her children at her house. Tony was due to drive the sibling home. The woman then spotted a man at her partner's car. She was not concerned, as 'Tony knew everybody' and believed it was likely a friend. But then she heard the car suddenly 'screech' and the vehicle head towards Phyllis's home nearby where it stopped. The witness said she got 'a fright'. She could not 'comprehend' what had happened. She remembered shouting and Tony replying: 'I have been stabbed.' The woman immediately ran up to a stricken Tony, who, by this time, was at his mum's door. The sobbing woman told jurors: 'He collapsed in my arms. I just held him in my arms.' An urgent 999 call was made. The witness said she later phoned again as emergency crews 'were taking so long'. Prosecutor Alex Prentice KC asked her: 'Did Tony remain responsive?' She replied: 'You could see that the life was draining from him.' Tony did not recover. The woman was asked by the police at the time if she could identify the male in Tony's car that night. An e-fit photo was generated, and this was shown to jurors. But, she said her 'focus' had been more on Tony than on this other individual. Park's KC Tony Graham later questioned the witness. He said: 'I am about to put something to you – I am not suggesting there is any truth – but if someone had believed that you had set Tony up that night, would that be ridiculous?' 'Yes', the witness replied. The court heard previously how Tony apparently held a 'grudge' towards Park. He was said to have believed Park – known as Rab – was in some way responsible for a car accident which left his disabled brother badly hurt. The woman was asked about 'incidents' she was aware of involving the pair. This included one where Tony had told her that he had punched Park, although she did not know the date. She also said her partner had been 'paranoid' about a car that he had seen in his street driving 'very slowly'. McCulloch was allegedly in it with the vehicle described by Tony as being 'full'. Jurors later heard how Tony died from a 'stab wound of the heart'. He would have been able to carry out 'some purposeful activity' – such as drive his car briefly – after being struck. However, the court was told Tony would have 'rapidly succumbed' to internal bleeding as a result. Pathologist Gemma Kemp had carried out a post-mortem on his body. Prosecutor Mr Prentice asked her about the realistic chance of Tony having been able to survive after what happened adding: 'Despite the best efforts of others, this was really a lost cause?' The witness agreed. The pathologist also told how Tony had suffered another stab wound on his abdomen. Dr Kemp said the weapon used to inflict the fatal blow was 'most likely a knife' and required a 'severe' level of force. The murder charge states Tony was repeatedly stabbed on the body with a knife or similar item. The trial, before Judge Lord Fairley, continues. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
