Epping is a Warning
As anti-asylum seeker protests erupt in suburban Essex, it's clear that a repeat of last year's racist riots could be around the corner
There’s a very real threat that last summer’s racist riots — where gangs of men set fire to hotels housing asylum seekers, attacked mosques with people gathered inside, and in Hull, dragged a man from his BMW while onlookers screamed “kill them” — could be repeated in 2025.
A mixture of anti-racist community organising and a firm response from the justice system helped bring an end to the violence. But a year on, it’s clear that no lessons have been learned.
Starmer’s Labour, with its whopping majority, had the opportunity to stand up to far-right narratives and explain that people’s lives have got worse because of cuts to public services, under-investment in communities, and the hoarding of wealth by the super-rich, not because of immigrants and asylum seekers.
Instead, the government has mimicked Reform’s message, releasing footage of deportations, bragging about raiding shops where migrants are trying to earn a living, and labelling our recent period of higher net migration “a squalid chapter”.
It’s no wonder that in Epping, asylum seekers have once again become the scapegoats for national decline. In recent weeks, several protests have taken place outside the Bell Hotel, on the outskirts of the town, after the alleged sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl by Hadush Kebatu, an asylum seeker staying in the hotel.
Counter protesters have repeatedly gathered to protect the hotel, pushing the common-sense message that while this alleged crime is awful, it does not reflect the broader behaviour of asylum seekers in the UK. Meanwhile, the protests have inevitably attracted a bunch of nefarious characters; Stand Up To Racism recently revealed that a Facebook group planning and advertising demos was being managed by activists from the neo-Nazi Homeland party, including former BNP man Kenny Smith.
Last week, I visited Epping to speak to locals about recent events in the town. What I encountered on a quiet Friday afternoon inevitably gave a more nuanced picture than the one painted by social media, where several videos of violent disorder outside the Bell Hotel have been circulated. To date, 12 men have been charged in connection with the protests. Plenty of people have subscribed to Nigel Farage’s view of the problems facing Britain today.
"People are coming over here left, right, and centre, and no one's doing anything about it," says John, a 72-year-old man whom I speak to outside a shop on Epping High Street. “They're only coming over here to cream off what generations have built up.”
I ask John if he has any sympathy for asylum seekers fleeing countries that have been ravaged by poverty, war, and violence (often caused in part by the UK) .
"I don't have no sympathy for them, cause at the end of the day they're illegal immigrants, and they know what they're doing is illegal,” he says. “They're coming under the guise that they're being persecuted in their own countries, and most of them are not. If they want asylum, why aren't they claiming asylum in the first country they come to? Why are they going through all these countries to get to France, to get to Calais, and come over here?"
Other residents are more understanding. A man called Charlie, carrying an armful of shoppin,g says, “I don’t feel like it’s affected the mood of the town. People understand why the initial protests happened. But then you get people coming in and taking advantage of it.” I mention the rumours that Tommy Robinson seems to have his eye on a trip to Epping, and get a knowing look: “Exactly”.
Elsewhere, a woman in her 80s tells me: “Sad things happen, but it’s not just asylum seekers that are dangerous. I’m not a teenage girl and I don’t have teenage children, and maybe I’d feel differently then, but I feel perfectly safe walking around.”
She adds that the recent trouble “is mainly because of the [anti-immigrant] protesters… it’s impacting the people on that side of town, and there are always cars pulling up outside the hotel.”
At the Bell, queues of traffic creep up to a red light at a junction. A metal fence barricades the section of pavement opposite the hotel, where protesters have been gathering. Today, it’s still.
Then, a grey 4x4 passes by, and an adolescent boy screams at the top of his lungs: ‘Close the borders!’ It’s a depressing reminder of where we are as a country.
Epping is a warning: it’s clear that since last August’s riots, anti-immigrant and anti-asylum seeker sentiment in the UK has only increased. The growing support for these narratives is reflected in recent polling, with Find Out Now placing Reform at 30% earlier this month, 10 points ahead of Labour.
It’s crucial that we get out into the communities where these messages are taking hold and attempt to change people’s minds. There are plenty of people in Epping who see Farage, Robinson, and co. for what they are: bigoted, self-interested charlatans with no desire to genuinely address the pressing issues facing UK society. But the number of people desperate for change, and willing to lend their ear to far-right, anti-immigrant ideas, is growing. It’s Reform’s fight to lose now: we have to counter their hatred with a narrative of hope.