Moscow – Sputnik. According to data reported by The Times, 71% of British voters believe that the Prime Minister is mishandling the issue of housing migrants in hotels. This opinion is shared by 56% of Labour Party supporters, the party to which Starmer belongs. More than a third of voters, or 37%, consider immigration to be the most pressing issue in Great Britain. Only 9% of Britons believe that the Labour Party can succeed in this area, while 6% have confidence in the Conservatives.
The survey was conducted from August 20 to 21 with 2,153 British voters, with no margin of error. In early August, Epping Town Council in Britain stated that it finds it inappropriate to equate using ‘The Bell’ hotel for refugee accommodation with its intended purpose and intends to declare housing migrants there illegal from a zoning perspective. Council leader Chris Whitbread confirmed that there are five schools and a nursing home in the immediate vicinity of the hotel.
In mid-July, riots erupted in Epping following the trial of a 38-year-old migrant accused of rape. Hundreds of protestors repeatedly gathered near ‘The Bell’ hotel, and during one protest, demonstrators clashed with police, leading to several arrests. In late July, local authorities in Epping called on the British government to close hotels where migrants are held.
Unregistered migrants often seek any opportunity to reach the United Kingdom and obtain refugee status, which grants them access to financial benefits and social programs. In 2024, over 36,800 migrants arrived in the UK illegally by boat across the English Channel, a quarter more than the previous year. A record was set in 2022, when over 45,700 migrants reached British shores. The British authorities spend millions of pounds daily to accommodate asylum seekers in hotels.
