Politics latest: Ministers must ‘get a grip’ on unrest outside asylum hotel in Epping, local MP says | Politics News

 Dr Neil Hudson has urged the government to “get a grip” on the situation outside of a hotel housing asylum seekers in Essex.

There have been repeated protests outside of The Bell Hotel in Epping, some of which have been attended by up to a thousand people.

It follows an asylum seeker being charged with sexual assault after he allegedly tried to kiss a 14-year-old girl.

The MP for Epping Forest tells the Politics Hub with Sir Trevor Phillips that the situation has left the local community “deeply troubled and upset and… quite frightened and scared”.

Hudson says the protests began peacefully, but “we sadly had many people come in and create violence”. 

He adds: “And we’ve seen over eight or nine police officers injured. We’ve seen two members of staff from the hotel assaulted. 

“And these are scenes that we don’t want to see in our small Essex town of Epping,” he adds. 

Hudson goes on to call for the hotel to be closed “immediately”.

People must ‘stay calm and united’ 

Trevor asks him who he thinks is causing the violence, and whether they are locals from outside of the area.

The MP says he “can’t give a running commentary”, but that he believes “what we have seen is people from both sides of the debate wanting to come in and create violence”.

“These scenes are unacceptable,” he adds. “They are not us, they are not Epping, and they are not what we stand for.”

He tells Trevor that everybody must “stay calm and united” and repeats his call for the government “to act quickly and close this hotel”.

He also accuses the Home Office of housing asylum seekers at The Bell Hotel “with no local consultation and against all advice”.

Hudson claims there are “serious management and safeguarding issues related to this hotel, so we’ve got to get a grip”.