By Zuri Omer
On 17 July, a mob chanting “send them back” and “refugee scum off our streets” attacked the Bell Hotel in Epping, smashing windows, hurling projectiles at security staff and police, and attempting to break into rooms where asylum seekers were housed. Six people have been arrested for violent disorder and criminal damage in connection with these attacks.
Five days later, hundreds of anti-migrant agitators circled the Britannia International Hotel in Canary Wharf, chanting “Britain First,” waving placards demanding an end to all asylum housing and creating an atmosphere so threatening that staff and future residents feared for their safety.
Recent inquiries have uncovered that Homeland Party activists are running the local “Epping Says No” Facebook group and have pinpointed the principal organisers of the riots, all while masking their extremist ties. These neo‑Nazi networks exploit fears over housing shortages and crime to bolster their ranks and justify acts of violence.
Last summer’s racist riots across 27 towns and cities – which saw mosques attacked and migrant hostels besieged after a false claim linked an asylum seeker to a major crime – left refugee communities traumatised and exposed how quickly disinformation and Islamophobia can provoke mass disorder. Yet authorities and some political leaders described those disturbances as the actions of misguided locals with legitimate grievances.
When senior politicians minimise or mischaracterize these attacks as “largely peaceful,” they echo the worst of populist rhetoric and send a clear signal to extremist groups that their tactics carry no political cost. Equating violent far-right groups with anti-racist campaigners undermines social cohesion and betrays basic principles of justice, an approach that risks us witnessing a repeat of last summer’s riots.
The Labour government should not be echoing the agenda of Reform UK – amplifying the myths about “grooming gangs” or migrant crime. Leaning into sensationalist misinformation about child abuse or pressing ahead with citizenship stripping is stoking the xenophobic tinder that far-right groups exploit.
Stand Up to Racism has been organising community patrols around threatened hotels and mobilizing counter-demonstrations. They are holding a rally in Epping on Sunday 27 July at 2 pm, assembling outside Epping Tube Station to march to the Bell Hotel with refugee advocates, trade unionists and faith leaders. Find out more here: