In a live Today programme on Radio 4, Conservative minister Chris Philp was caught off guard on the spot when presenter Nick Robinson remarked that he had signed off on the use of the Bell Hotel in Epping himself to house asylum seekers in the context of recent Tory condemnation of the policy.
The on-air discussion, which was aired on Monday, 1 September, was straight away in the news, and included the contradictions of the Conservative government’s approach to handling the asylum system.
On-Air Reminder Causes Political Tension
The debate was left reeling when Mr Robinson caught Mr Philp off guard with an open question: “Who was the minister who opened the Bell Hotel to asylum seekers without consulting the community? Do you by any chance remember?”
Philp began responding with care: “Well, the last government did open up that hotel”
Alone interrupted by Robinson: “It was you, you were the immigration minister, you did it.”
Philp was momentarily shocked, fighting to deflect the subject. The episode has come to be pulled into mass censure for exposing political hypocrisy to the masses.
The Bell Hotel in Epping was one of many sites throughout the UK employed to accommodate asylum seekers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The action was initially presented as a temporary emergency response to decongest the asylum system.
However, over time, the measure has unleashed criticism from local residents who say they were never asked.
“It’s a symbol of political expediency where things are being done centrally and local voices are ignored,” a councillor close to the situation said in The Telegraph.
During a TV broadcast, Chris Philp was reminded that he had approved the use of the Bell Hotel for asylum seekers when his own party recently attacked the same policy. The confrontation re-ignited controversy over the government’s handling of immigration.
Mixed Messages from Ministers
Ironically, the same policy authorized by Philp has been used by Conservative politicians of today to criticise Labour’s asylum policy. The party spent the majority of the summer denouncing the asylum hotel use, blaming Labour for fueling local tensions.
But it was under Philp’s own time as immigration minister that the scheme for the Bell Hotel proceeded without public consultation.
This hypocrisy lays bare a larger trend in government: disavowal of unpopular choices, even when they were their own ministers’ choices.
As of mid-2025, over 50,000 asylum seekers remain accommodated in temporary accommodation throughout the UK, many in hotels such as the Bell. The cost keeps piling up, with the Home Office shelling out over £8 million daily in hotel expenses alone.
Experts argue that this model is politically poisonous and unsustainable. Critics assert that despite over ten years in power, the government has failed to implement a long-term, humane, and cost-effective asylum policy.
Philp’s embarrassing moment has only added to demands for accountability at the Home Office. As public trust in the asylum system breaks down with unprecedented haste, pressure is mounting on the government to bring in substantive reform.
Whether the gaffe is ushering in real change or merely another buzzword in the politico’s soundbath remains to be seen.
