Overview

• Havant Borough Council’s consultation on moving 35 asylum seekers into Waterloo House in Waterlooville ends Friday, and its response is expected to mirror residents’ widespread objections.
• Spelthorne Borough Council will meet the Home Office on August 1 to discuss revised plans for an all-male asylum hotel at the Stanwell Hotel near Heathrow Airport.
• Essex Police continue a dispersal order around The Bell Hotel in Epping, reporting 23 arrests and 14 charges tied to recent disorder at anti-migrant demonstrations.
• Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman and other local MPs have launched petitions and letters condemning the accommodation proposals as inappropriate and urging councils to oppose them.
• The Government’s strategy to end hotel lodging for asylum seekers by 2029 and disperse them into community properties has sparked protests in Waterlooville, Epping, Stanwell and beyond.