Bell Hotel latest: 'two tier justice'?
Coffee House Shots
The Spectator
4.4 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 29 August 2025
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Human rights barrister Dr Anna Loutfi and deputy political editor James Heale join Michael Simmons to unpack the latest court ruling over the migrants housed at the Bell Hotel. The government has won an appeal today – but how much of a victory is it really? Anna explains how the legal questions considered by this case raise a much wider debate about the rights of citizens. Is this another example of 'two tier justice'?
Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Natasha Feroze.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | At Philip Morris International, we're delivering a smoke-free future today. |
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| 0:27.7 | Music Learn more at PMI.com slash progress. Hello and welcome to Coffee House Shots. |
| 0:30.9 | Today I'm joined by the spectators James Heel and the barrister Dr Anna Lukey. |
| 0:38.3 | Now, there's been a development in the Bell Hotel case in Epping. |
| 0:44.2 | I think we've got a clip from the judgment now. |
| 0:48.0 | The Court of Appeal grants the Home Secretary's application for permission to Appeal against the decision dismissing |
| 0:57.0 | her application for party status and further grants the Home Secretary intervener status |
| 1:04.0 | in the litigation between the Council and Simani. The Home Secretary has clear statutory duties towards asylum seekers in this country |
| 1:15.4 | under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. Anna, can you tell us what's happened? I'll try. Thanks, Michael. |
| 1:26.1 | So as we're speaking now, we've just received news. The general public |
| 1:30.9 | has just been informed that there has been a court of appeal ruling that the application, |
| 1:36.8 | which was successfully made by Epping Council, Epping Forest Council, to have the asylum seekers |
| 1:42.6 | removed from the Bell Hotel in Epping has been overturned. |
| 1:46.2 | That means that the asylum seekers so-called can remain in the Bell Hotel. |
| 1:51.0 | And that initially successful interim application by the Council has been rejected by the |
| 1:56.7 | Court of Appeal on the basis of submissions, which I have not read by lawyers for Samarni Hotel |
| 2:03.9 | Group Limited, which are the owners of the Bell Hotel. But what we also know is that the |
| 2:09.6 | Court of Appeal heard submissions from the Home Office on behalf of the Secretary of State, |
... |
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