Shogi Bear

Our country’s patience has snapped. People are utterly sick of being ignored by the establishment. And this time they are doing something about it. It’s heartening to see people from all backgrounds fighting back against a rotten status quo – and winning. The people of Epping and the local council have led the way by forcing the Bell Inn Hotel housing illegal migrants to close. As a result of their success the Home Office is now under immense pressure to deport those here illegally rather than managing failure by housing them across the country. Last Sunday I went to visit those peaceful patriots protesting in Epping. I ordered the closure of the hotel back in 2023, but Labour reopened it this year because the number of migrants crossing the Channel has reached record levels. Nobody from Westminster had visited or listened to them before. Starmer and Cooper wouldn’t dare. But the stories locals told were harrowing and need to be heard. One mother told me how the local school had suggested students take a different route to school. Her young daughter said that men from the hotel loiter outside certain spots where “they look at us”. In the weeks prior there had been several serious attacks, allegedly by illegal migrants in the hotel. The protestors I spoke to weren’t racist – they were simply good parents and grandparents worried about their family’s safety. I know the last government failed. If it was up to me, there would be no asylum hotels. I ordered the closure of over a hundred hotels because Suella Braverman and I managed to reduce the numbers crossing by a third. But that wasn’t nearly enough – illegal migrants being housed anywhere is a disgrace. I wanted to detain and deport all of them and was forced to resign when I wasn’t listened to. If the government had accepted my amendments to derogate from outdated international treaties it would have been possible. But instead the Rwanda Bill was weak and wouldn’t work, so I was forced to vote against it alongside 10 colleagues. The fight goes on. I am now offering advice to councils – Conservative, Reform, whoever – to pursue similar legal challenges to asylum accommodation as Epping. In less than 24 hours, I have already convened lawyers who believe in borders to provide advice pro bono. The outpouring of support has been bigger than I ever expected. In all walks of life, in all professions, people are sick of this mess and want it fixed. And it’s bigger than just illegal migration. Across the country people are mobilising to restore the country they know and love. Yesterday I was in my Midlands constituency, Newark, putting up flags with a group of locals – or “raising the colours” as some have put it. I can’t stand the self-loathing councils who have taken down the St George’s cross or Union flag. These are so often the same councils that happily leave up Palestinian flags. When I ran through Tower Hamlets during the London marathon this spring the council had allowed almost every lamppost to be adorned with foreign flags. Councils like this are the embodiment of two-tier Britain – denigrating our unifying national culture while celebrating every other. Well, enough is enough. I call on patriotic Britons across the country to put out our flags and restore pride in our country. The country is heading in the wrong direction. But the British people have shown during the last week that there are reasons to believe a comeback is on.