Billed, inevitably and disgracefully, in some extremist quarters as a battle between the rights of “illegals” and the wishes of the people of Epping, the Court of Appeal was nonetheless perfectly right to quash the judgment of a lower court in the Bell Hotel case.
The latest decision – understandably, given the distressing circumstances of a recent serious crime – is a disappointment to Epping Forest District Council and the residents of the market town, by no means all agitators. However, it was nothing to do with human rights or the European Convention, and much more about planning and British immigration law.
