Six people in hospital after two-car crash in Reigate
Surrey Police said the crash involved two cars - a Suzuki and a Range Rover.It asked witnesses or anyone with relevant footage of the crash to contact the force.
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The Independent
7 minutes ago
- The Independent
Labour must speed up plans to shut all asylum hotels, says party's red wall chief
Labour must shut down all asylum hotels 'a lot quicker' than its current plan to put a stop to them by the end of the current parliament in 2029, the chairman of the party's red wall group of MPs has said. Jo White, the MP for Bassetlaw, who leads a caucus of around 40 MPs in the party's traditional heartlands, said Chancellor Rachel Reeves ' plan to axe the use of asylum hotels by 2029 needed to be sped up. There are currently around 32,000 asylum seekers in hotels around the UK. Anti-migrant demonstrations last week outside one of those hotels, in Epping, led to more than a dozen arrests. The hotel was thrust into the spotlight after a man living there was charged with sexual assault, harassment and inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity. The man, from Ethiopia, has denied the offences and remains on remand in custody. Ms White told The Telegraph: 'There's a commitment to close down the hotels by the end of the parliamentary term. I think we all want it to be a lot, lot quicker than that.' 'There is a huge sense of unfairness because people work hard here in this country and commit to supporting the country and then there's the sense that what asylum hotels cost is a huge drag on what should be invested into our NHS, our schools and our infrastructure. 'So they have to close, we have to get those asylum hotels cleared out.' She added that she believes Labour ministers share her frustrations and went on to urge Sir Keir Starmer to 'stop the incentives' for those seeking to reach the UK illegally. A record 24,000 migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year, the highest tally for the first half of the year since records began in 2018. It represents a 48 per cent rise compared to the first six months of last year. Ms White welcomed home secretary Yvette Cooper 's plan to share asylum‑hotel locations with food‑delivery firms, calling it a sensible measure to crack down on illegal working. She also urged Sir Keir Starmer and Ms Cooper to revisit the idea of national identity cards, a proposal repeatedly ruled out by Downing Street. Reflecting on last week's demonstrations in Epping, however, she described the scenes as 'really frightening and quite scary', adding that while anger is understandable, violence against asylum seekers could not be condoned. It was revealed last week that plans to reduce the number of asylum hotels could see migrants rehoused in vacant residential properties and council‑owned homes. Public concern over the scheme has intensified as Sir Keir has vowed to significantly reduce both legal and illegal migration. At the same time, more than 40,000 failed asylum seekers remain in limbo, having appealed against their decisions and still requiring housing. A government spokesman said that since taking office, ministers had acted immediately to fix the asylum system, closing hotels and removing over 35,000 people with no right to be here.
Telegraph
8 minutes ago
- Telegraph
RAF base near Epping to house more migrants
The number of migrants being housed at a former RAF base close to the site of protests over asylum seekers in Essex is set to increase sharply, a council leader has revealed. MDP Wethersfield in Essex – which is 30 miles from the scene of confrontations over migrants being housed at a hotel in Epping – has been home to hundreds of single male asylum seekers since July 2023. Graham Butland, the Conservative leader of Braintree district council, said the authority was told last week that the number could rise from the current 800 men to 1,220. Cllr Butland told a council meeting on Monday that the Home Office was considering using its 'temporary surge capacity' to meet the demand of asylum seekers arriving in the UK. He said 'although no final decision has been made', numbers could rise 'as soon as next week'. This has led to local speculation that migrants from The Bell Hotel in Epping, where there have been frequent stand-offs between anti-migrant protesters and counter-protesters, could be moved to the former base. Any such move has been denied by the Home Office, which said the two locations were 'completely different issues'. The rise in the number likely to be housed at MDP Wethersfield comes as Epping district council said the Home Office must close The Bell Hotel and move the migrants out. Councillors voted unanimously on Thursday to urge the Government to close the hotel where protests have been held since July 13. The Epping protests were triggered when Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, a 38-year-old asylum seeker from Ethiopia, was charged with the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl. Mr Kebatu denied the charge when he appeared at Chelmsford magistrates' court on July 17. Later that evening, Essex Police was accused of escorting counter-protesters from Stand up to Racism to The Bell Hotel, where violent scuffles subsequently broke out. Police have made 18 arrests and charged seven people in connection with the Bell demonstrations. Essex Police said migrants staying at the hotel had been advised to remain indoors after 5pm and 'some had experienced verbal and physical harassment'. One resident had been chased and injured when returning to the hotel, and the premises had been daubed in graffiti, with windows smashed. Roger Hirst, Essex's police, fire and crime commissioner has urged Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, to review the use of the hotel for housing asylum seekers. James Cleverly, the Conservative former home secretary who represents Wethersfield in Parliament, has written to Ms Cooper asking her to 'urgently clarify the basis for this decision, the expected timeline, and how the Home Office intends to fulfil its obligations to the local authority and the local community going forward, especially in light of the current public concern and disorder just across the county in Epping'. In February, the Government increased the capacity at Wethersfield, which is six miles north-west of Braintree and was used as headquarters and training centre for the Ministry of Defence Police until 2022, from 580 to 800. Mark Ault, an independent councillor whose ward includes Wethersfield, told The Telegraph: 'It's inevitable there will be an increase in tension as a result of increasing the number of asylum seekers at the base – whether that's protests from the Left or the Right. 'Sir Keir Starmer has again reneged on his promise to close Wethersfield down and instead they are going to increase the numbers.' Nathan Robins, 19, interim chairman of Reform UK's Braintree branch, said: 'Unfortunately, when James Cleverly was home secretary, he allowed this [the location to be used] to go ahead. It's too late for him to be against it now, he should have been against it when he was home secretary. 'There are concerns about them being able to leave whenever they want – and they also get a free bus service. 'If you're an elderly resident and you don't get that treatment when you've been paying taxes all your life, it's just unbelievable. 'We need to start deporting people who come here illegally and leaving the ECHR to allow us to do that. Some residents who voted Labour have told me they will now never vote Labour again.' Mr Butland told councillors following the past week's disturbances in Epping that the utmost must be done 'to keep the temperature on this down and not exacerbate the situation'. The Home Office has said it is committed to providing a 'more sustainable and cost-effective asylum accommodation system', compared with the higher cost of housing asylum seekers in hotels. A spokesman said: 'The increase in capacity to 1,200 is for the short term and we intend to return it to 800 as soon as we can.' Whitehall sources said the Home Office has a legal obligation to meet the essential living needs of destitute asylum seekers and the Wethersfield site is designed to be as self-sufficient as possible. Sir Keir Starmer has refused to put a date on when the Government might stop placing asylum seekers at Wethersfield. A second police force was embroiled in a row this week over its escorting of anti-racism counter-protesters to a demonstration outside a migrant hotel. Footage showed officers from Hampshire Constabulary walking alongside activists in May to Potters International Hotel, a site in Aldershot housing asylum seekers and the location of regular anti-migrant demonstrations.
Telegraph
38 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Lebanese murder suspect ‘killed beauty queen then fled to Britain on a small boat'
A Lebanese man accused of murdering his model wife arrived in Britain on a small boat from France. While Ibrahim Ghazal is currently serving a nine-month sentence in jail for arriving in the UK without a valid entry clearance, concerns have been raised about whether he will be able to be deported once he is released. The 36-year-old allegedly suffocated his beauty queen wife Zeina Kanjo to death in Beirut in 2021 and was the subject of an Interpol red notice. The alleged killer arrived as one of the 23,000 people who have crossed the English Channel from France in 2025. There are fears he may try the same defence to avoid being deported from the UK later this year. Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said the Ghazal case showed the Starmer government had no control over migrants entering Britain. 'As we know that the illegal immigrants arriving are from nationalities 24 times more likely to end up in prison, especially for sex offences,' Mr Philp told The Daily Mail. 'Every illegal immigrant should be immediately deported upon arrival - then the crossings would soon end.' Ms Kanjo's murder in 2021 caused outrage in Lebanon and started a national debate about domestic violence issues facing women in the middle eastern nation. The 33-year-old model, who had represented her country in a beauty contest in Egypt the previous years, had filed domestic violence and fraud charges against her new husband and was trying to divorce him when he allegedly killed her, according to The Daily Mail. 'I didn't want her to die' Just hours after her death, Ghazal fled to Turkey. Al Jadeed, a Lebanese TV channel, broadcast an audio recording in which he appeared to admit responsibility. In a conversation with Ms Zeina's sister, he allegedly said, 'I didn't want to, I didn't want her to die, when she was screaming, I just put my hand on her mouth'. Ghazal travelled through a string of European countries, including Greece, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, before he was arrested in Stockholm, Sweden, in December 2022. Ashraf Al-Moussawi, Ms Kanjo's lawyer, said Ghazal avoided extradition for years by claiming he faced a possible execution for his alleged crimes if he returned to Lebanon. 'In reality, Lebanon hasn't carried out an execution since 1994, so it shouldn't have been an obstacle,' he said. Detained by Border Force Mr Al-Moussawi and Ms Kanjo's father, Mohammed, urged the UK government to find a way to send Ghazal back to Lebanon to face justice. Ghazal was detained by Border Force and jailed by judge Ian Lawrie KC at Gloucester Crown Court last Wednesday after admitting entering the country unlawfully. A Home Office spokesman said they never commented on whether extradition requests had been received. 'It is also our longstanding policy not to comment on individual cases,' the spokesman said. 'However, we will always do everything in our power to remove serious foreign criminals from the UK so they are not left free on our streets after completing their sentences.'
