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Epping MP demands violent protesters to 'stay away' from town after migrant hotel unrest
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Jul 18, 2025
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has been told to "get a grip" on Britain's migrant crisis after protests erupted outside a migrant hotel in Epping.Speaking to GB News, Conservative MP for Epping Forest Neil Hudson urged the Government to "act soon" as he declared the issue is "getting out of hand".FULL STORY HERE.
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concerning scenes on the streets of Epping last night
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Can I start with the notion, first of all, that some parts of the media are calling your constituents far right
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Well, thank you for having me on your programme. As you say, these are deeply upsetting and disturbing scenes
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that we are seeing in Epping. The scenes in Epping last night are very upsetting
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something that we just don't want to see in Epping, that we very much fully respect the right for people to peacefully protest
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but violence like this has no place. And this is not Epping, this is not us, this is not what we stand for
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We've got a tinderbox situation in Epping just now. We've had these three alleged sexual assaults last week of school-aged children
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And as you can imagine, tensions are running high. But last night, what we saw was people coming in from outside Epping
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very much wanting to have a violent reaction. And can I first of all just say thank you so much to the police
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who, in protests like this, they put themselves in harm's way to keep us safe
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And we have had reports, as we've seen with the sites last night, of injuries to police officers and damage to vehicles
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This sort of activity has no place when we've got a community really, really nervous and upset
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Neil, I want to push you on that previous point, because, you know, you're a politician
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You answer it like a politician. The media, according to your constituents
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far right for being very, very upset, legitimately, some people might say, for there being sexual assaults
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allegations of crime in your area. They're not far right, are they
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They're right. They have legitimate concerns. I could also put it to you that you talk about outside influencers
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coming in to stoke this up. You're right. And they were from the left wing
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It was organised people from out of town that came in. They were escorted by the police from the station into the heart of this protest and that is when things got nasty Neil Hudson can I implore you to ask those people from outside of your area to stay away
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Absolutely, absolutely. These people need to stay away from our small community
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We are a small, close-knit town. We have an asylum hotel in this constituency now
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that the previous government was able to close in April of last year
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The Labour government has, against all the advice, opened this hotel up
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And now we've had these alleged sexual assaults last week that have really upset the local community
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We have mums and dads. We have grandparents. We have a school nearby as well
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People are genuinely very, very upset and fearful. And equally so, we must consider we have a vulnerable population of residents within the hotel of asylum seekers
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Now, I know very much that there are church groups and local community groups that are looking out for these vulnerable people
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But this hotel is not in the right place. It's not being adequately resourced
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I've had urgent meetings with the Home Office and raising accountability issues and safeguarding issues
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I've called for an urgent meeting with the Home Secretary and we're calling for this hotel to be immediately closed
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so that our community can be safe and we can make sure that Epping can get back to normal
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But, Neil Hudson, we've covered this ground so often before in many, many constituencies
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and the Home Office simply seems oftentimes, almost always, in fact, to turn a blind eye
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Oh, we must accept people who come from overseas and they get the full protection of the state
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they get four-star hotels, they get free board and lodgings. Well, it's not free, it's paid for by British taxpayers
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Do you think you've got any chance of getting this move or will the Home Office simply say, well, tough
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you've got to take your fair share? We've got to put pressure on this Labour government who came into office saying that they were going to smash the gangs and address this issue
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But on their watch the small boat crossings have gone up by about 48 percent There are 3000 more people in the asylum hotel system now than there were when they came into power They got to get a grip on this issue but they also have to listen
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to local communities. If these hotels are in the wrong place and people are actually being
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potentially allegedly assaulted and we have local communities really, really struggling and
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distressed for community safety and cohesion. I'm urging our community to stay focused and united
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and calm. As you have said in your introductory piece, we have people from outside trying to whip
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this up and cause violence and attacking the police who are trying to keep us safe. I'm urging
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the Home Secretary, the Home Office to get a grip of this issue, to close this hotel instantly and
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actually get a grip on this asylum situation because they are letting it get out of hand
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and it's making it a risk for local communities. Neil Hudson, can I ask you about those outsiders
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Because I've seen very, very strong evidence, well, look, that these are politically motivated socialist activists
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from London who are not just coming to your constituency, but they're going all over the country
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They seem to revel in stoking up tensions. And do you think now this is taking on the notion
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the feeling of an orchestrated, organised agitation movement that is causing big problems locally for MPs like you
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I think we need to be really, really careful. As you say, there are organised people being protested in
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There was a call to me at Epping Tube Station yesterday evening, and I'm getting regular briefings
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and I'm liaising very closely with the police about this. We need to be very careful what we say
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But what I'm urging the local community... Why? ..is to make sure that our local community stays together
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is not divided, and these people from either sides of the debate who are coming in trying to have violent protests
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that has no place in a peaceful protest. And we've got to make sure..
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This is a very dangerous risky situation and we got to make sure that the police can keep the community safe And actually I just urge people to stay away from Epping if they are coming here to actually cause violence and unrest and unsettle
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Well, I have very distressed constituents, very upset constituents who are very nervous, very frightened
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They're wanting their town to go back to how it was. And we need to make sure that these external influences are stopped
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And anyone that is breaking the law and making these protests turn into violent protests
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when they're smashing up police vans, injuring police officers, they need to be brought to justice
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But we've got to make sure that the government acts quickly and decisively so that we can address this issue
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Neil Hudson, on that, we can absolutely agree. The outsiders have no part in any of these protests
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whatever their political allegiances. But I put it to you. Violence has no part in the protest
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Yeah. Last night's protest, though, went in two parts. The first part was locals, mothers, children, parents
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who were concerned, and things rapidly changed when the outsiders came in
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That is when it kicked off. I put it to you. You know, the external influence coming in need to stay away
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Absolutely. Absolutely. That people have a right to peaceful protest and make their point
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And the police are very happy to facilitate that and make sure that goes off peacefully
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But if people come from outside deliberately to cause violence and mayhem
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they should stay away. Firmly, they should stay away. We've got to... This is a tinderbox situation
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and I'm urging people just... Should they be stopped, for example, from even being allowed to get off the train in your constituency
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If that's specifically commencourable, why are they even allowed into your postcode
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I can't comment. I mean, I don't know if you've caught the train out to Epping. It's the end of the line on the central line
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To actually police that, I'm not going to comment on what the police can and can't do in terms of that
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But we've got to try and take some of the heat out of this. But what we need to do is to make sure
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that the Home Secretary is listening. She needs to get a grip of this issue
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and we need to get this hotel closed quickly. And I might urge you to act soon
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