Today confirms what local people have known all along – this weak 𝘓𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 does not care about the people of Epping.

After months of legal wrangling, today confirms what local people have known all along – this weak 𝘓𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 does not care about the people of Epping. It cares only about forcing through its open-border dogma, whatever the cost to public safety or community trust. The voices of local residents have been ignored, and the will of the community overruled.

This summer, the residents of Epping made their voices clear. They protested peacefully, they petitioned their council, and their elected representatives fought for them in court. A Conservative-run council went to the High Court to defend its town and attempted to stop a hotel in the heart of their community being filled with illegal immigrants whose backgrounds, identities, and criminal histories were unknown. It is about safety, sovereignty, and the basic right of people to feel secure in their own homes.

Most shockingly of all, lawyers acting on behalf of the 𝘓𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 said that the rights of illegal immigrants were more important than the rights of local people. Bridget Phillipson confirmed this was the 𝘓𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵’s position.

The case of Hadush Kebatu shocked the conscience of the country. It should never have happened. But sadly, it is not an isolated case, the outrage in Epping is not only about one case or one hotel. At least 200 individuals living in asylum hotels have been charged with criminal offences this year alone. Ordinary families are working hard to pay their bills while seeing hotels across Britain filled with people who broke the law to get here.

𝘓𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳’s response was not to listen, rather to drag the local council through the courts to keep the hotel open and silence the local community. Towns like Epping should never have been put in this position. Illegal immigrants should not be housed in hotels, they should be deported. But 𝘒𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳 is weak and does not have the backbone to stand up to his team and to take the difficult decisions to grip this crisis.

Only the Conservative Party have done the hard work to develop a detailed, hard-edged plan for stronger borders. We will deliver our BORDERS Plan. We will leave the ECHR and ECAT, ban asylum and other protection claims for illegal entrants, establish our removals force, remove all illegal immigrants within a week of arrival. No more bogus asylum or other protection claims. No more asylum hotels. That is how the crossings stop, and how communities like Epping get their peace back.