Assisted Dying Bill: Why is it so different now, and have MPs changed their minds?
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ITV News
3 hours ago
- ITV News
'Please don't move us': Epping asylum seeker speaks to ITV News after High Court ruling
After Tuesday's High Court ruling that migrants should be removed from a hotel in Essex, ITV News understands that 24 other councils are now considering their own legal challenges. ITV News UK Editor Paul Brand reports An asylum seeker living in the Bell Hotel in Epping has told ITV News he feels "helpless" after the High Court ruled that migrants should be moved out of the hotel. In the first interview with an asylum seeker in the hotel since the council won a legal challenge on Tuesday, Khadar Mohamed told ITV News his message to the people of Epping was: "Please don't do this to us". "Please don't move us, if you move us everyone else will want to do the same to us," he said. It comes as more than 20 other local councils told ITV News they were looking closely at the ruling to consider their next steps. And Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch is encouraging Tory councils to fight asylum hotels in their areas. In a letter to all Conservative controlled councils, she welcomed the ruling in favour of Epping Forest District Council, writing: "I am encouraging Conservative council leaders to take the same steps if your legal advice supports it." However, for Mohamed, 24, who is from Somalia, said the High Court decision was "scary" and "emotionally painful". He told ITV News Senior Producer Nathan Lee he was surprised by the mass protests outside the Essex hotel in recent weeks. "I never thought I'd be coming here and then that would be happening to me, people not wanting me there," he said. On Tuesday, a High Court judge ruled the former Bell Hotel in Epping must stop housing asylum seekers by September 12. The hotel has been at the centre of a series of protests in recent weeks after an asylum seeker who was staying there was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu has denied the charges against him and is due to stand trial later this month. A second man who resides at the hotel, Syrian national Mohammed Sharwarq, has separately been charged with seven offences, while several other men have been charged over disorder outside the hotel. Mohamed told ITV News that since the arrests, he had found the situation "hostile" and "difficult". "Everything changed," he said. "Now we're seen as criminals, before we were just normal people." But Mohamed said he wanted to speak out because - "I want to make the people know that I'm not what they say I am". "After the incident, people look at you and they're scared for their life, they're scared for their kids and pushing them behind their backs. "I'm not here to harm anybody, I'm here to look for safety, to look for a better life," he insisted. Mohamed travelled through Turkey, Austria and Germany before crossing the channel to get to the UK, and has now been granted asylum. He said he thinks the people of Epping "have a reason to be mad" because of the number of asylum seekers coming to the area. "I know they're mad over the whole thing about the government and how they dealt with this - I'm sorry, but I'm not at fault, I'm looking for a better life," he said. "I'm not trying to take anything from them, not trying to make their lives difficult," Mohamed insisted. "The only offence I've committed is coming to this country illegally, I'll confess to that. But I had to do it - I had no option," he told ITV News. Th e government says it is looking at "contingency options" for asylum seekers at the Bell Hotel in Epping, insisting it will also "find alternative locations" for other asylum seekers in hotels across the country. Responding to the ruling, Home Office minister Dan Jarvis said: "We're looking very carefully at the court ruling that was handed down yesterday, we'll want to identify a range of contingency options for how those people can be appropriately accommodated elsewhere." Jarvis refused to say what the alternative locations for asylum seekers would be, insisting "it would vary depending on different locations", and the government will "have to look at a range of different scenarios". Multiple councils are now considering the Epping ruling to see whether they could mount similar legal News has contacted every council across the country to ask how they intend to respond to the High Court judgement. So far, 24 said they were looking closely at it to consider their next steps, leaving open the option of taking their own legal action. A Labour Party spokesperson, responding to Kemi Badenoch's letter to Tory councils on asylum hotels, said: "This is desperate and hypocritical nonsense from the architects of the broken asylum system.
ITV News
a day ago
- ITV News
Could the Epping asylum hotel injunction set a precedent for other councils?
Ministers are bracing for the potential of further legal challenges over asylum hotels, after Epping Forest District Council was granted a temporary injunction blocking migrants from being housed there. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage hailed the High Court decision in Epping as a 'victory', saying he hopes it 'provides inspiration to others across the country,' while the shadow home secretary argued that residents have 'every right to object' to people being housed in their area. But those inside the Home Office are said to be "furious" about the court's decision, with one source telling ITV News' Home Editor Paul Brand that the move was a "dangerous judgement". Could the decision in Epping set a precedent for other councils? The 12 councils where Reform UK is the largest party are understood to be exploring the prospect of legal challenges following Tuesday's ruling. The prospect of countless other councils bringing their own legal cases against hotels housing migrants would prove to be a logistical headache for the government. But there are many who feel this is a sign that the court is in line with feelings among the general population. Reacting to the news, Mr Farage said that 'young, undocumented males who break into the UK illegally should NOT be free to walk the streets anywhere. They must be detained and deported'. 'I hope that Epping provides inspiration to others across the country,' he said. Lancashire County Council, which is under the control of Reform UK, is said to the most advanced in its stage of planning to bring a court case. Members of the Conservative Party also welcomed the High Court's decision, with Tory councils potentially looking at legal cases themselves. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch suggested that the migrants housed at the hotel 'need to be moved out of the area immediately', while her shadow home secretary Chris Philp said that 'residents should never have had to fight their own government just to feel safe in their own town'. He said: 'Local residents have every right to feel safe in their own streets and every right to object when their community is treated as a dumping ground.' How has the Labour Party responded? The Home Office had warned the judge that an injunction could 'interfere' with the department's legal obligations, and lawyers representing the hotel's owner argued it would set a 'precedent'. It accuses judges of meddling in asylum policy, as with immigration cases where criminals have been allowed to stay in the UK under human rights rulings by judges. ITV News' Paul Brand said that sources within the party feel that councils are going to waste taxpayers' money fighting a government that is already working to end use of hotels by asylum seekers. And the government has pointed to the reaction of other parties as political game-playing. The Home Office has insisted it has reduced the number of asylum seeker hotels from 402 to 210. It has also been keen to point out that the Bell Hotel, the subject of the High Court injunction, was opened under the Conservative Party although the Conservatives say that they closed it again. But look, whether it's in the channel, whether it's in Parliament or whether it's now here at the courts, new fronts are opening up all the time now in this battle that the government's facing over immigration. What was the reaction to the injunction in Epping? The leader of Epping Forest District Council said the government does not have a plan to accommodate asylum seekers and did not listen to concerns that they should not be housed at the Bell Hotel. The council had asked a judge to issue an interim injunction stopping migrants from being accommodated at the Bell Hotel. The hotel has been at the centre of a series of protests in recent weeks after an asylum seeker who was staying there was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Chris Whitbread, who also leads the Conservative group at the Essex authority, said that failures to improve the system for processing asylum applications were also causing distress 'up and down the country'. Speaking on Tuesday after the judgement, he said: "We have always raised our concerns with the Home Office, whether it be the previous government or this government, we raised our concerns. 'This government decided to start using the hotel again without consultation and purely by instruction; they didn't listen to our concerns. 'Five schools are in close proximity, a residential care home, lots of residential homes nearby, they didn't listen to us at all, that is the fundamental difference.'Reacting to the judgment, border security minister Dame Angela Eagle said: 'This government inherited a broken asylum system, at the peak there were over 400 hotels open. 'We will continue working with local authorities and communities to address legitimate concerns. Our work continues to close all asylum hotels by the end of this Parliament. 'We will carefully consider this judgment. As this matter remains subject to ongoing legal proceedings it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.' The government has also stressed that the injunction handed down today is an interim judgment, which will be tested again in the coming months.
Daily Record
27-06-2025
- Daily Record
Stirling MP explains support for "compassionate" assisted dying plans
Chris Kane MP used his free vote on the legislation to express his support for proposals to regulate assisted dying for terminally ill patients. Stirling's MP has explained the reasoning behind his backing for a historic assisted dying bill which narrowly secured support in the House of Commons last week. The Terminally Ill Adults Bill, proposed by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, gives terminally ill adults in England and Wales the chance to have the right to end their own lives if certain criteria are met. The passage of the legislation at Westminster - which gained support by a margin of just 23 votes - follows a similar vote at Holyrood where the Scottish Parliament also gave its backing for proposals which would legislate for assisted dying in Scotland. In the Commons vote last week, an emotionally charged debate saw MPs recount personal stories of seeing friends and relatives die as well as sharing both positives and concerns related to the legislation. Stirling and Strathallan MP Chris Kane was one of those asked to vote on the bill - and he was one of 314 to support its passage. Speaking to the Observer, Mr Kane said his vote would give people the opportunity to 'end their suffering on their own terms' and said the current arrangements had the impact of prolonging someone's suffering in a way deemed 'deeply unjust'. He said: 'My decision to support the bill was shaped by careful thought and compassion, taken with full awareness of the moral and ethical complexities involved. 'I understand that some will be disappointed, and I want to acknowledge the sincerity and strength of feeling among those who oppose it. I respect those views, just as I hope my own are respected in return. 'In the United Kingdom today, individuals with mental capacity can legally refuse life-sustaining treatment, even if that decision leads to their death. 'Yet they cannot seek medical assistance to take an approved substance that would allow them to end their suffering on their own terms. For me, that is a contradiction that cannot be ignored. 'The current system can prolong suffering in ways that feel deeply unjust. 'This bill seeks to change that by offering terminally ill people the ability to make a considered and safeguarded choice at the end of life. 'I believe it is time to offer a compassionate, safe and clearly regulated choice for those nearing the end of their lives who want to take it.' Mr Kane was also quick to praise the general level of debate from politicians on both sides of the argument - with members given the opportunity to exercise a rare 'free vote', away from party lines. He added: 'In recent weeks and months, we have seen Parliament at its best: informed, considered and passionate, with respect shown across the House for those on all sides of the debate. 'I have spent a great deal of time reflecting on the Assisted Dying Bill, reading thoughtful emails from constituents, reviewing detailed briefings from organisations both for and against, and hosting constituency roundtables to listen to personal stories and different perspectives. 'I have followed the bill closely throughout its parliamentary journey and believe that it has evolved into a more balanced and carefully constructed piece of legislation than it was at the start.' The Westminster legislation will now head to the House of Lords for scrutiny and further votes before it has the chance of becoming law south of the border.
