Labour MP compares Epping migrant hotel protesters to proscribed terror group Palestine Action

A Labour MP has compared protesters gathering outside the Bell Hotel in Epping to members of the proscribed terror group Palestine Action.

Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy claimed concerned residents in the Essex town had mobilised to intimidate 140 asylum seekers housed at the three-star hotel.

Speaking at a fringe event hosted by More in Common at the Labour Party Conference, Ms Creasy said: "We do need to deal with organisations that encourage people by using the threat of violence and intimidation to promote their cause.

"That, for me, is not just about Palestine Action. I watched what was happening in Epping, down the road from me, and I saw very similar patterns of behaviour, where it wasn't about a debate about immigration."

Ms Creasy, who grew up in the Essex town of Colchester, added: "It absolutely was about leaving people that were in the hotel in fear that someone was going to set it on fire.

"And there was an inconsistency in how we dealt with that as well."

There have been more than 3,600 arrests made in connection with Palestine Action protests, including 50 at this year's Labour Party Conference.

A group of Palestine Action activists were jailed after breaking into Elbit Systems and fracturing the spine of a police officer with a sledgehammer in August 2024.

The Filton Four, as they are now known, were jailed for more than 26 years in total.

Other members of Palestine Action caused millions of pounds' worth of damage at RAF Brize Norton by cutting through the outer fence and spraying red paint on the turbine engines of two Airbus Voyager aircraft.

Meanwhile, at least 24 arrests were made over the Epping protests, with 16 people charged, after Ethiopian asylum seeker Hadush Kebatu sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl in the town.

Kebatu arrived in the UK on a small boat just eight days before his arrest and was deported after being mistakenly released from HMP Chelmsford.

Ten Epping protesters received jail sentences, equating to more than 17 years combined.

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Blue Labour MP Jonathan Hinder also appeared on the fringe event's panel this morning.

The Pendle & Clitheroe MP warned Labour needs to reclaim its position on free speech.

He warned: "A lot of working-class people don't feel like they've been able to raise concerns about immigration because they fear being called racist, and they're not.

"The vast majority of people living in this country are not at all racist, and a huge majority who care about the immigration issue do not give a jot about whether you are black, brown or white."

Mr Hinder, who was a police inspector in the Metropolitan Police ahead of entering the House of Commons in 2024, also defended his decision to vote in favour of proscribing Palestine Action as a terror group.

He said: "Put very simply, if you break into our military bases and cause a lot of damage, or if you hit a police officer on the back with a sledgehammer, you should expect the state to come down on you like a tonne of bricks."

Ms Creasy also used her appearance at the fringe event to claim free speech must be somewhat controlled.

The Walthamstow MP argued: "If we want to stand up for free speech, we have to stand up for the right of people to say, 'Stop, actually, you’re not going to change my mind, this conversation isn’t one I want to continue being part of and how you go on behaving means that I don’t feel that I can’t speak at all', in order to protect [those spaces] where people do feel they can have a discussion."

She added: "It’s recognising the impact and the context in which people have conversation and debate… [recognising] the value of free speech but understand, if we are progressives and socialists, tackling the barriers that stop people from being allowed to be heard at all."

More in Common polling found most Britons believe Labour only protects free speech when it agrees with the cause.

Almost a third – 32 per cent – strongly agreed with that view.

The research, shared at this morning's fringe event, also found the public does not believe free speech is handled consistently.