Overview

• Essex Police admitted on July 22 that officers escorted pro-migrant demonstrators from Stand Up to Racism to the Bell Hotel, reversing an earlier denial and drawing criticism that the move fuelled clashes.
• The force has charged six people with violent disorder over last weekend’s Epping protests and faces mounting calls to clarify its crowd-control approach.
• Around 150 locals protested outside the Park Hotel in Diss on July 21 after the Home Office announced that single adult men would replace families as occupants.
• Online rumours claiming migrants were being moved from Epping’s Bell Hotel to the Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf prompted demonstrations, but the Home Office denied any relocation.
• Epping Forest District Council leader Chris Whitbread warned the town is a powder keg and urged urgent Home Office reforms to stem community unrest.