Overview

• The government announced plans for an independent body of adjudicators to hear asylum appeals more quickly, part of a strategy to phase out hotel accommodation.
• Ministers will challenge a High Court injunction ordering the removal of asylum seekers from the Bell Hotel in Epping, the case that helped galvanize protests.
• Demonstrations and counter‑protests continued over the bank holiday at hotels in cities including Bristol, Birmingham, London and Norwich, with police reporting multiple arrests in Liverpool.
• Official data show record pressure on the system: 111,084 applications in the year to June, about 106,000 cases pending and roughly 51,000 appeals taking an average of 53 weeks, with 32,000 people in hotels at the end of June.
• A YouGov poll found 71% of voters think the prime minister is handling asylum hotels badly as Reform UK promotes mass‑deportation plans and figures such as Lord Blunkett press for tougher measures while others reject curbs on human‑rights protections.