Overview

• Protests were staged outside hotels across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland over the weekend, with counter-demonstrations and police reporting largely peaceful gatherings alongside some arrests.
• The Home Office plans an independent appeals body with authority to prioritise cases and a statutory 24-week target for decisions in priority appeals.
• Ministers say the reforms aim to reduce delays and phase out the use of hotels for asylum accommodation over time.
• A court ruled the Bell Hotel in Epping cannot house asylum seekers following a local challenge, and the government says it will appeal the decision.
• Official data show about 32,000 people are in roughly 200 hotels and a record 111,084 asylum applications were filed in the year to June, as Reform UK and Nigel Farage escalate political pressure for tougher measures.