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Epping hotel asylum seekers to remain at the Bell, court rules

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Lewis AdamsBBC News, Essex

PA Media A large group of police officers, all wearing caps and hi-vis vests, standing in front of a large blue sign outside The Bell Hotel, which advertises its name.PA Media

Tensions have been high over the housing of 138 asylum seekers at The Bell Hotel in Epping

A temporary injunction that blocked asylum seekers being housed at an Essex hotel has been overturned at the Court of Appeal.

Lawyers for The Bell Hotel in Epping and the government challenged a High Court ruling that would have forced 138 asylum seekers to leave the site by 12 September.

Overturning the injunction, Lord Justice Bean said the High Court ruling was “seriously flawed in principle”.

Epping Forest District Council, which obtained the initial injunction, says it will not rule out taking its case against the use of the Bell to the Supreme Court.

The Home Office has braced itself for a wave of legal challenges from other councils over the use of hotels in their areas, fearing Epping’s victory would set a precedent.

But Lord Justice Bean said the High Court ruling by Mr Justice Eyre failed to consider the challenges of relocating the migrants.

“The judge’s approach ignores the obvious consequence that the closure of one site means capacity needs to be identified elsewhere in the system,” he said, reading the ruling made by him and two other Court of Appeal judges.

A full High Court hearing to decide on a permanent injunction for the Bell is expected in mid-October.

Reacting to the latest ruling, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said it “puts the rights of illegal immigrants above the rights of the British people”.

About 100 protesters gathered outside the Bell on Friday evening after the judgement and were moved by the police to a pen across the road.

A BBC reporter observed an asylum seeker being heckled.

Other protests took place at hotels elsewhere, including in Cheshunt in Hertfordshire.

PA Media Red smoke pours out of a flare held up by a person who is part of a larger group marching along a road. Some are holding cardboard placards.PA Media

Protests and counter-demonstrations have been staged outside The Bell Hotel during the summer

Thousands of people have attended anti-immigration protests and counter-demonstrations outside The Bell Hotel since July.

It followed an asylum seeker housed there being arrested and subsequently charged with several offences including the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl.

Hadush Kebatu, who is from Ethiopia, denies the offences and has been on trial.

The protests acted as a trigger for the council to apply for an injunction, its legal team said in court.

Lord Justice Bean said this was “worrying”, adding: “If an outbreak of protest enhances a case, this runs the risk of acting as an impetus for further protests – some of which may be disorderly – around asylum accommodation.

“There is a risk of encouraging further lawlessness.”

Police say 25 arrests have been made in connection with disorder outside the hotel, with 16 people charged.

Lord Justice Bean said Mr Justice Eyre “made a number of errors” when imposing the injunction on 19 August.

Criticism was also levelled at the High Court judge’s refusal to allow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s 11th-hour attempt to dismiss the council’s case.

That would have given him more insight into the challenge of relocating the asylum seekers, Lord Justice Bean added.

PA Media Five people, three of whom have the flag of St George draped round their shoulders, standing behind a metal fence. In front of them is The Bell Hotel, which is blocked off by police vans.PA Media

Epping Forest District Council had argued there was “no compelling reason” to overturn the injunction

At the High Court, Epping Forest District Council claimed that the Bell owner Somani Hotels breached planning rules by turning the site into asylum accommodation.

“The battle is not over and we will continue the fight,” a spokesperson said earlier.

“It is nothing less than the people of Epping would expect and deserve.”

Neil Hudson, the Tory MP for Epping Forest, said the judgement was a “dreadful decision”.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage claimed the government had used European human rights legislation “against the people of Epping” and that migrants had “more rights than the British people under Starmer”.

While European human rights law was mentioned by the government in its written arguments, it was not a major part of its argument, nor the Court of Appeal’s decision according to a summary of the ruling.

Steve Smith, chief executive of refugee charity Care4Calais, said the ruling “made it clear that violent protest, and in many cases overt racism, is not a fast-track route for the far right to attack the rights of people seeking sanctuary in this country”.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokeswoman, Lisa Smart, told the BBC that Labour should be “speeding up asylum processing to bring down the backlog and end hotel use once and for all”.

Border Security and Asylum Minister Dame Angela Eagle said the government “will stop using hotels, which aren’t a sustainable solution, by the end of this Parliament.

“This judgement assists us by allowing us to do that in a planned and orderly fashion”.

She added: “We all want the same thing, which is to get out of asylum hotels”.

The judgement followed evidence being heard on Thursday.

Housing asylum seekers was described as a “lifeline” for the venue, which was only 1% full when it was open to paying customers in August 2022.

Becca Jones, the Home Office’s director of asylum support, added it would have been a blow to lose The Bell Hotel’s 152 beds when pressure was “significant and increasing”.

The hearing was told there were 103,684 accommodated asylum-seekers as of 31 March, higher than in 2024.

Philip Coppel KC, acting for the district council, argued there was “no compelling reason” for the appeal bid to be allowed.

Duffy pulls $679M in funding from offshore wind projects

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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he pulled $679 million in funding for offshore wind projects on Friday, suggesting investments be made elsewhere.

“Wasteful, wind projects are using resources that could otherwise go towards revitalizing America’s maritime industry,” the Transportation Secretary said in a Friday statement.

“Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg bent over backwards to use transportation dollars for their Green New Scam agenda while ignoring the dire needs of our shipbuilding industry,” he continued.

The bulk of the Biden-era funds will be clawed back from a marine terminal in Humboldt County, Calif., set to be used to build and launch wind turbines that can float in the ocean. The project received $427 million in federal funding.

The move will also strip millions from two projects in New Jersey, $47 million from an offshore wind project in Maryland, $10.5 million a project in Connecticut, $11.2 million for infrastructure upgrades to the Port of Davisville in Rhode Island and other projects in Virginia, Michigan and elsewhere.

“Thanks to President Trump, we are prioritizing real infrastructure improvements over fantasy wind projects that cost much and offer little,” Duffy said on Friday. 

However, clean energy advocates and leaders in the states losing funding criticized the move, predicting it would contribute to higher energy costs and elimate jobs.

“It’s so dogmatic. They are willing to eliminate thousands of jobs and an entire sector that can bring cheap, reliable power to American consumers,” California Rep. Jared Huffman (D), ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, said to the Associated Press.

Others agreed.

“This administration has it exactly backwards. It’s trying to prop up clunky, polluting coal plants while doing all it can to halt the fastest growing energy sources of the future – solar and wind power,” Kit Kennedy, managing director for the power division at Natural Resources Defense Council, told AP. 

“Unfortunately, every American is paying the price for these misguided decisions.”

A separate project known as Revolution Wind is also set to lose funding as ordered by the Trump administration. The wind farm built in Rhode Island to the tune of $6.2 billion had its funding revoked despite its expected completion in 2026 and projected ability to power 350,000 homes.

“This political move by the Trump administration will drive up the cost of electricity bills and contradicts everything the administration has told us. It wastes years of state investment in renewable energy designed to diversify our energy supply and lower costs for families and businesses,” Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) said of Duffy’s decision. 
“All of that is now at risk,” he said Friday. 

Analyst Report: PPG Industries, Inc.

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avrotusa
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Analyst Report: PPG Industries, Inc.

Funeral director Amie Upton ‘robbed our daughter of her dignity’

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avrotusa
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A couple who found the body of their baby daughter lying on the sofa at a funeral director’s home say their child was “robbed of her dignity”.

Cody and Liam Townend’s daughter, Macie-Mae, was stillborn at a Leeds hospital in January, with the pair appointing Amie Upton to oversee her funeral.

Earlier this week, a BBC investigation reported Ms Upton had been banned from entering any of Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust’s mortuaries and maternity wards for keeping the bodies of babies at her home.

Ms Upton has previously said she had only ever received two complaints in her eight years of running her baby loss support and funeral service, Florrie’s Army.

Speaking to BBC Newsnight, the couple said they discovered Ms Upton had kept their daughter’s body at her home, six miles away from the funeral parlour where they believed her body was being looked after.

Mr and Mrs Townend said they had found Macie-Mae’s body on a sofa at Ms Upton’s home wrapped in a blanket, 10 days after they had last seen her.

Mrs Townend said: “I was mortified. I didn’t know what to say, didn’t know what to think.

“It was awful. It felt like she was the mother, like we weren’t the parents of that baby. It’s like she just took everything over.

“Dignity is what Macie-Mae was robbed of. She had no dignity.”

Mr Townend said the couple just wanted to get their baby out of the home as “quickly as possible”, adding that Ms Upton’s behaviour was “not normal”.

He said: “The baby should have been in a chapel of rest and she wasn’t, so we were like, ‘what’s going on here?'”

West Yorkshire Police said it had investigated Florrie’s Army, but after “extensive enquiries” had not identified any potential crimes.

Ms Upton previously told the BBC she had had only two complaints about the service in eight years.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror on Thursday, she said the babies in her care “knew nothing but love” and that the bodies kept at her home were never left alone.

Mr and Mrs Townend, who visit their daughter’s grave every day, have called for more regulation of the funeral industry.

The couple had been trying to have a baby for four years before Macie-Mae was conceived.

Mrs Townend said: “It’s harder to open up your own burger van than it is to open your own funeral home.

“It needs to change. If [regulations] were already in place, we wouldn’t have to go through this.”

Mr Townend added: “If there’s no regulations around the funeral directors, how do you now you’re going to be safe, at least when you pass away?

“When you’re at that stage of life and you do pass away, you still need a sense of security. You’re still entitled to human rights.”

Earlier this week, the Townend’s MP Mark Sewards said he was pushing for new powers to regulate the industry and said he would “hold the government’s feet to the flames” to ensure any recommendations were implemented.

The government has said grieving families affected had “rightly expected their children to be treated with dignity and respect” and that it was “considering the full range of options to improve standards” in the funeral industry.

Kennedy, Epstein, funding fights set to grip Capitol Hill

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Analyst Report: Oshkosh Corp

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avrotusa
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Analyst Report: Oshkosh Corp

Tories call for investigation into Angela Rayner’s tax affairs

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Reuters Angela RaynerReuters

The Conservatives have called for an investigation into Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner’s tax affairs.

The Daily Telegraph reported that she saved £40,000 in stamp duty when buying a flat in Hove, East Sussex, after telling tax authorities it was her main home.

Tory Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake has written to the prime minister’s independent standards adviser asking him to investigate whether Rayner broke ministerial rules.

There is no suggestion she has broken any laws, but the Tories said this was “inappropriate tax avoidance for a minister subject to higher standards of conduct”.

A spokesperson for Rayner said she paid “the relevant duty” owed “entirely properly”.

It is understood Rayner’s “primary residence” for council tax purposes remains her family home in her constituency of Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside, but that following her divorce she ceased to own a stake in the property.

This meant she was able to avoid the higher rate of stamp duty that would have been applicable when buying the Hove flat if it had been classed as a second home, the Telegraph reported.

She paid £30,000 in stamp duty on the £800,000 flat in Hove, instead of £70,000, according to the paper.

Stamp duty is a tax paid when buying a property over a certain price in England and Northern Ireland.

In last autumn’s Budget, the government increased the additional rate of stamp duty when buying a second home to 5%, on top of the standard rate.

As secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, Rayner is responsible for council tax and housing policy.

In his letter to Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent adviser on ministerial standards, Hollinrake said the arrangement amounted to “hypocritical tax avoidance, by a minister who supports higher taxes on family homes, high-value homes and second homes”.

He also claimed it “collapses the house of cards that Tameside is her primary home”.

As Deputy Prime Minister, Rayner also has a grace-and-favour flat in Admiralty House in central London.

Hollinrake argued this was “likely to be her primary home – where she spends the majority of her time as a minister”.

He claimed Rayner had breached the Ministerial Code because “her tax affairs are not in good order”.

Under the rules, ministers are asked to confirm their tax affairs are up to date and consistent with their overarching duty to comply with the law.

If Rayner was found to be in breach of the ministerial code, Hollinrake said Sir Laurie should consider sanctions, including “at the very least” stripping Rayner of her ministerial residence.

Separately, the Conservatives have written to Tameside Council, calling for Rayner to be struck off the electoral roll there, arguing it is not her “permanent” home.

They claimed she was currently registered at three addresses – in Ashton-under-Lyne, London and Hove.

Some people may be eligible to register at more than one address if they can be deemed resident at both, for example students who live at one address during term time and another during the holidays, according to the Electoral Commission.

However, the watchdog says owning a property or paying council tax are not on their own sufficient to establish someone is resident at an address.

Earlier, Health Minister Stephen Kinnock defended his colleague, telling LBC: “The deputy prime minister has made it absolutely clear she’s done absolutely nothing wrong.”

He added: “Everything that she’s done is fully within the law.”

A spokesperson for Rayner said: “The deputy prime minister paid the relevant duty owing on the purchase of the Hove property in line with relevant requirements and entirely properly, any suggestion otherwise is entirely without basis.”

Democrats are winning where the party isn’t looking 

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On Tuesday, Republicans lost their supermajority in the Iowa Senate. 

Catelin Drey’s victory in Senate District 1 is not just a local upset — it is part of a growing national pattern of Democratic overperformance in state legislative special elections. Donald Trump carried this district by more than 11 points in 2024. Drey’s victory represents a 20-point swing toward the left — making this one of the most consequential state legislative flips of the year.  

In fact, Democrats are overperforming their 2024 results by an average of nearly 16 points in state legislative races, according to The Downballot’s special elections Big Board. That is not a blip — it is the same kind of sustained overperformance that foreshadowed the blue wave in 2018.  

The Iowa result joins a long list. In Pennsylvania’s SD-36, Democrats defied the odds and flipped a seat Trump carried by 15 points. In Oklahoma’s HD-71, Amanda Clinton won by 69 points in a district Kamala Harris carried by only 19 — a 50-point overperformance. Even in heavily Republican-leaning districts in Florida and Alabama, Democrats are running well ahead of expectations and are narrowing margins while forcing Republicans to pour resources into traditionally safe districts.  

Special elections are a demonstration of energy, organization and the ability to mobilize voters in off-cycle conditions. For example, Sister District, a national organization that builds Democratic power in state legislatures, raised nearly $18,000 in small-dollar contributions, made more than 23,000 calls to Iowa voters, and secured 413 vote plans for Drey in just three weeks. She went on to win by 797 votes — proof of what can happen when national resources are directed strategically at the state level.  

For decades, national Democratic strategy has focused overwhelmingly on federal races and a narrow set of so-called “swing states.” That approach has left state-level Democrats in the South and Midwest running on fumes, with skeletal staff and minimal infrastructure.  

That neglect has real consequences. Republicans, who have invested heavily in state legislatures for decades, now hold disproportionate power in statehouses throughout the country. This gives them the ability to redraw congressional maps and further entrench themselves in power. 

After a painful defeat in 2024, Democrats now face a choice: retreat to the familiar trope of short-term presidential battlegrounds, or commit to building a broader, more durable movement that cannot be easily washed away. 

State legislatures are where policy is made, where democracy is shaped, and where the fight for power is unfolding right now. And the data from this year is clear: with organization and investment, Democrats can mobilize voters even in historically red corners.

If the party is serious about its future — and the future of American democracy — it must invest in state legislatures now. 

Sarah Curmi is executive director of the progressive grassroots organization Sister District. Previously she served as vice president of state and local campaigns at EMILY’s List. 

Analyst Report: Dell Technologies Inc

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avrotusa
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Analyst Report: Dell Technologies Inc

Why has Kamala Harris’ Secret Service detail been withdrawn?

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Bernd Debusmann Jr, at the White House

Getty Images Kamala Harris at a podium with three Secret Service agents in the background during a trip to Zambia in 2023. Getty Images

Unlike former presidents, vice-presidents are not guaranteed protection for the rest of their lives.

President Donald Trump has cancelled former Vice–President Kamala Harris’ Secret Service detail, seven months after she left office following her unsuccessful presidential campaign.

By law, the US Secret Service provides former vice-presidents and their families six months of protection after their terms end.

That term, however, can be extended, which former President Joe Biden reportedly did before leaving office.

The move already has caused controversy, with both California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass calling it politically motivated.

Here’s what we know.

Why did Biden extend her security?

So far, neither Biden nor Harris have commented on the reasons for extending her security past the mandated six months. CNN reported that Biden extended it for one year with a previously undisclosed directive before leaving office.

From a legal perspective, Biden was within his rights to do so.

According to a law enacted in 2008, the Secret Service can provide protection to former vice-presidents, their spouses and any children under the age of 16 after leaving office.

While the law states that the protection should not extend any more than six months, the secretary of homeland security has the authority to order “temporary protection” in situations where “information or conditions warrant such protection.”

Ronald Kessler, an author with expertise on the Secret Service, told the BBC that “if you set aside political implications, it’s just standard practice.”

Does Harris face enhanced risks?

Sources familiar with the current situation have told CBS, the BBC’s US news partner, that a recent threat assessment did not uncover anything alarming to warrant extending Harris’ security arrangements.

But some in Harris’ team reportedly worried that as the first woman and person of colour to serve as vice-president and as a candidate in a contentious, emotionally charged election, she faced additional threats.

A number of threats against Harris were made public during her time in office and as a presidential candidate in 2024.

Several men were arrested and charged with making online threats against her in 2024, for example, and in 2021, a Florida woman pleaded guilty to making threats against Harris and admitted she sent videos to her imprisoned husband in which she displayed firearms and said that a “hit” could be carried out within 50 days.

In March, after Harris left office, a Florida man also was arrested after allegedly threatening to kill her with a sniper rifle.

Mr Kessler, however, said that compared to other politicians Harris “hasn’t stirred up that much as far as I can tell.”

“I think it’s a sound judgement on the part of the Secret Service,” he added.

The removal of Harris’ detail comes just weeks before she is scheduled to begin a multi-city tour to promote her book, 107 Days, focused on her short-lived, unsuccessful presidential bid.

According to Mr Kessler, such an operation would further stretch an already overburdened and undermanned Secret Service. In September, the agency also is responsible for international dignitaries and VIPs at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

“That would require maybe a dozen Secret Service vehicles all over the country to follow on her big tour,” he added. “That’s a big drain on the service.”

What elements of security are being taken away?

Secret Service protection extends far beyond the agents that drive a protectee, and protect them and their immediate family.

Additionally, the Secret Service is tasked with securing homes, such as Harris’ Los Angeles residence, including installation of security systems and alarms. Agents pre-emptively identify and monitor potential threats, including those sent electronically or via social media.

It is unclear how much those protections cost, and the Secret Service has not published that figure.

Private security for well-known celebrities, VIPs and business leaders can easily reach millions of dollars per year, depending on the level of threats and protection required.

Meta, for example, reportedly paid over $23m (£17m) for Mark Zuckerberg’s personal security in 2023, including $9.4m in direct security costs.

Is this political retribution from Trump?

After the removal of Harris’ detail was announced, some of her allies and Trump’s political detractors immediately characterised the move as politically motivated by the president.

Trump already removed Secret Service protection for former allies and foes alike, including Hunter and Ashley Biden, children of the former president; and Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Several former Trump officials and allies also had their protections revoked, including ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, a former national security adviser who had become a vocal critic.

“The safety of our public officials should never be subject to erratic, vindictive political impulses,” Bob Salladay, spokesman for California Governor Gavin Newsom, told CNN.

Mr Kessler said that the “severely undermanned” Secret Service likely is refocusing its efforts on more immediate threats, such as those faced by Trump and members of his administration.

“President Trump may have been gleeful to do this,” he said. “But there are real sound practical reasons”.

Only one other former vice-president, Dick Cheney, is believed to have Secret Service protections extended after leaving office, by then-President Barack Obama.

Are the rules different for former presidents?

Unlike past vice-presidents, those who served as president have security for life, unless they choose not to.

In 1994 – to save costs – Congress moved to limit protection for ex-presidents and their spouses to 10 years after they left office.

But in 2013, President Obama signed a law again mandating lifetime protection. Today, this applies to George W Bush, Bill Clinton, Obama and Biden.

Only one president, Richard Nixon, is known to have chosen to forego the security offered, in 1985.

At the time, members of his staff told the New York Times he did so to save the agency money.

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