UK (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said Nigel Farage and Reform are “whipping up anger” over migrant hotels, fueling tensions instead of solving the crisis.
As reported by The Independent, a cabinet minister claims Nigel Farage and Reform UK are stirring anger amid rising tensions at migrant hotels.
What did Bridget Phillipson say about Nigel Farage and the migrant crisis?
Bridget Phillipson claimed Reform leader Nigel Farage has no interest in solving the migrant crisis and seeks political advantage.
Her remarks came just hours after Reform suspended Epping councillor James Regan for racist posts made while protesting outside the Bell Hotel.
During an interview, when asked about migration, she focused her attacks on Mr Farage and Reform UK, who lead Labour by eight points in a recent poll.
She said,
“I understand the frustration that people feel, because I understand when they see, for example, asylum hotels and big numbers of people in their community. I understand how that can make people feel.”
Ms Phillipson stated,
“But Nigel Farage and Reform, they don’t actually want to sort this problem – interests are served by whipping up anger rather than fixing it.”
When questioned about how Labour’s stance on immigration differs from Reform, she responded, “The difference is we’ll actually take action.”
The Education Secretary faced questions over the increase in migrants crossing the Channel under Labour since July 2024.
Ms Phillipson avoided questions on backing Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, who sent Home Office lawyers to defend migrants’ rights at the Bell Hotel.
She accused the “inheritance from the Tories” and pledged “we will close the hotel….but it has to be done in an orderly fashion.”
Referring to ECHR, Ms Phillipson said,
“We do believe there needs to be reform of the ECHR, and that’s what the home secretary is looking at. But we also believe as a government that our responsibilities under international law matter, and our standing in the world matters as well.”
The cabinet minister stated,
“The home secretary has committed to looking at the article eight provisions [right to a private and family life], to seeing whether they need updating and reforming for the modern age.”
She defends the government policy of not leaving the ECHR, saying,
“Our standing in the world matters if we want to strike trade deals with countries. And we’ve done, we’ve had great success in recent years in striking those trade deals in the last year. We need to be a country that’s taken seriously. We need to be a country that honours our obligations and honours the rule of law.”
The education secretary added,
“It matters that we have clear enforcement up the border. It matters that we have a clear set of rules around migration. We are toughening those up.”
When asked if priority should be given to asylum seekers over those people in Britain, she said,
“It is about a balance of rights. When people come to this country and claim asylum, we have a responsible city as a government to assess their cases and to process them.”
Ms Phillipson added,
“For those who have got a clear right to be here for that, for those who have evidenced what they are facing in terms of persecution – refugees – then that will be decided. Where they don’t, then we will take action to remove people from the country. So we do have a responsibility to process those cases.”
What did Richard Tice say about party involvement in asylum hotel protests?
Reform deputy leader Richard Tice called Bridget Phillipson’s remarks “ridiculous” and “outrageous” during an appearance on Sky News.
When asked if the party encouraged attacks on asylum hotels, Mr Tice responded angrily, saying, “Of course, what a ridiculous suggestion.”
He added,
“It’s an outrageous suggestion. Of course, we’re not suggesting that. We’ve always suggested lawful, peaceful protest, nothing else.”
Responding to backlash on his party’s immigration plan, he stated,
“All of it’s wrong. Because our policy on asylum seekers and removing those who are here illegally is to look after the people that the British government is supposed to look after, which is the British people, and to make them more prosperous, to improve the quality of public services for British citizens.”
Mr Tice said,
“And you’ve now got a government that’s basically admitted the opposite is true. They’re more interested in protecting the rights of people who’ve come here illegally – therefore, they are criminals – than looking after the rights of British citizens. That’s the dividing line.”
The deputy leader also called for an early general election, saying,
“This government seems to have forgotten that it is elected to look after the interests of the British people and to make us more prosperous. And it’s abandoned that duty, frankly. They should give up and call a general election.”
What led to arrests at West Drayton amid migrant protest clashes?
In heated exchanges across the UK, masked men tried to enter a West London hotel during migrant-related protests.
Police detained five people in connection with the unrest at the Crowne Plaza hotel in West Drayton.
After a court victory, asylum seekers can stay at Epping’s Bell Hotel, as protests spread to Newcastle, Falkirk, Aberdeen, Gloucester, London, and Essex.
Key facts about illegal migrants in the UK
Small boat arrivals reached 27,997 by mid-August 2025, up from 18,342 in 2024. They account for 86% of irregular entries.
Top nationalities are Afghans, Eritreans, and Syrians, with Eritreans up 47%. Returns remain low at 3%, mostly Albanians (75%).