Fight for jobs, homes and services for all
by Epping Forest resident
Protests have been held outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex following the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl, which an asylum seeker being housed there has been charged with. The protests have grown, from a couple of hundred people on 13 July to over a thousand a week later on 20 July.
Far-right groups and figures have called on their online followers to take part and tried to exploit the situation. There have been several arrests as some of the protests have descended into violence, including attacks on the police. On 17 July, schools and the local council offices closed early, fearing scenes like those that took place outside asylum hotels in some parts of England last summer. Now far-right agitator Tommy Robinson has called for another turnout on 27 July.
Small counter-protests have been organised by Stand Up to Racism which have been threatened and attacked when marching to the hotel.
Many local people are appalled by some of the violence that has been seen and reject the far right. It is the workers and communities of Epping – the trade unionists and local workers on the tube, postal depot, fire station, hospital, schools, council offices and supermarkets – backed up by the trades councils and trade unions in the surrounding areas of Essex and north and east London, that can push back the far right in their area. Far-right activists are trying to capitalise on the fears and anger of a local population that has suffered deep cuts and a big housing crisis for years. The local community can be united in a fight for the resources all residents need and against the far right, violence and racism, with a programme and movement rooted in the working class.
Savage Tory austerity, now continued by Starmer in government, has been passed on by local councils – in Epping’s case a Tory council. Coupled with decades of low pay, poverty and a housing crisis, this has created the basis for despair and division in our communities which dangerous racist far-right groups aim to exploit, aided by the disgraceful anti-migrant rhetoric of all the main parties, including Starmer’s Labour.
We say:
- Oppose all racism and division; defend the right to asylum; workers’ unity against attacks on asylum seekers
- End all council cuts. Demand full funding from the government for all our communities’ needs
- Jobs, homes and services for all
- Build council houses; cap rents
- Oppose all sexual harassment and violence. Restore funding for women’s services; invest in street lighting and other measures to keep our streets safe
Epping asylum hotel: fight racism and for jobs, homes and services for all
◴ 17th July 2025
On Sunday 13 July, a crowd gathered outside a hotel being used to accommodate asylum seekers in Epping, following one of the asylum seekers having been charged with sexual harassment and assault. The crowd, which swelled to a few hundred, clearly included racist far-right individuals and groupings trying to exploit the situation and lead threatening chants and actions.
Socialist Party members are campaigning for the following approach in the labour movement in the area.
Following the events in Epping, this trades council states:
- We condemn all acts of racism and threats against asylum seekers.
- We stand in solidarity with victims of sexual harassment and violence.
Savage Tory austerity, now continued by Starmer in government, has been passed on by local councils – in Epping’s case a Tory council, but disgracefully the same is true in Labour councils. Coupled with decades of low pay, poverty and a housing crisis, this has created the basis for despair and division in our communities which dangerous racist far-right groups aim to exploit, aided by the appalling anti-migrant rhetoric of all the main parties including Starmer’s Labour.
We say:
- Oppose all racism and division; defend the right to asylum; workers’ unity against attacks on asylum seekers
- End all council cuts. Demand full funding from the government for all our communities’ needs
- Jobs, homes and services for all
- Build council houses; cap rents
- Oppose all sexual harassment and violence. Restore funding for women’s services; invest in street lighting and other measures to keep our streets safe
We pledge our assistance to the trade unions and communities of Epping to help build a united campaign for the resources all residents need and against the far right. We’ll work with any anti-austerity councillors who want to fight Tory and Labour cuts.
We call on the TUC to organise a national demonstration against Labour’s austerity and division.
Following the decision of Unite to suspend Angela Rayner and open up a debate about Unite’s relationship with Labour — as a result of the brutal treatment of Birmingham bin workers by the Labour council, backed up by the Labour government — the trades council will organise a debate in the autumn on how the trade unions can build a workers’ political voice that can undercut support for Reform and for far-right groups.