Labour has to convince reasonable, concerned people that progress is being made on asylum issue

Is this the start, as its instigators intend, of a major movement which will carry the issue of illegal immigration onto the streets of Britain on a scale not previously seen? Or does it reflect orderly localised concerns that factions with a vested interest in trouble will seek to exploit?

In recent days, the most sinister development has been the fusion of mainstream politicians, wittingly or otherwise, with elements they hitherto would not have gone near with a barge-pole. When Tories and neo-Nazis are part of the same crowd, without any sense of discomfort, then something new is happening. It is personified by Robert Jenrick, a shameless aspirant for the Tory crown who sees this as the issue which will seize it for him. Writing in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph, MrJenrick wrote of “those peaceful patriots demonstrating in Epping”, without reference to the presence of some who would not normally merit that benign description.

The Tories are in a difficult place on asylum seekers and hotels because even public memories are not sufficiently short. Everyone knows the whole issue grew under their management and they did not have a clue how to deal with it. Mr Jenrick’s mission is to exempt himself from that constraint.

“I know the last government failed. If it was up to me, there would be no asylum hotels”, he wrote blithely. With one leap, in contrast to his leader, he seeks to be free. In trying to take the Tory Party into the electoral void currently being occupied by Reform UK, he is not fussy about the company he keeps.

By common consent, the Epping demonstrations have been driven by Homeland, a political party which is, rather oddly, led by a Lewisman with a long history in far right politics. Homeland split last year from an outfit called Patriotic Alternative. As is the way with extremities, Homeland is apparently itself in the process of splitting due to disputes about Kenny Smith’s leadership. Meanwhile, it is busy around asylum hotels.

The High Court ruling on the Bell Inn in Epping epitomises the issue facing government. It is not difficult to see why a court would uphold the view that the long- term use of premises to house asylum seekers represents a change of use from what is normally understood as an hotel. The court did not then see a duty to consider the wider consequences for public policy.

Government knows all too well the problem it faces and the political backlash it is giving rise to. Unlike the court, it does not have the luxury of offering a self-contained answer. If the Bell Inn ruling is upheld and acted upon by other councils, not a single asylum seeker will disappear but the challenge of dealing with them will become even more acute.

All this, of course, is grist to the mill of Nigel Farage and Reform UK. Like the court, they are not obliged to offer a solution, except in vague and impractical terms. But they certainly know plenty about fanning flames and may have even fewer inhibitions than Mr Jenrick about who they rub shoulders with.

Richard Tice, their deputy leader, encouraged people to march on their local asylum hotels and “express their genuine concerns in a peaceful, friendly way”. Mr Farage told residents to put pressure on councils to “go to court to try and get the illegal immigrants out”. They have no intention of letting Mr Jenrick back onto their patch. While all this goes on, the government, and particularly Yvette Cooper as Home Secretary, have to get on with the practicalities of turning around not only the boats which cross the Channel but also the tide of public opinion. It is possible to point to successes.

For example, who has heard of this week’s agreement with the government of Iraq to facilitate the speedy return of illegal immigrants to the UK, including criminals involved in operating the small boats racket? This is the kind of work that takes time and commitment but does not catch headlines. Meanwhile, the tide is coming in fast. I have a habit of keeping an eye on local council by-election results throughout Britain and the recent ones have been startling with Reform UK appearing out of nowhere to overturn huge Labour and Tory majorities. The dramas may be in court- rooms and outside hotels, but the political danger is expressed through ballot boxes in diverse places.

Just because there is a political problem does not mean there is a readily available answer, but the Labour government will have to come up with something which convinces reasonable, concerned people that progress is being made. They have to walk a tightrope between behaving decently towards genuine cases and firmly with arrivals who have simply jumped a very long queue to get here illegally.

In Scotland, the issues may seem less acute for the simple reason that we are dealing with far smaller numbers. It would be a mistake, however, to assume that attitudes are significantly different from those in other parts of the UK, particularly when there are nasty incidents to be exploited.

This should not become a battle of extremes. Recognition that there are genuine concerns which government must be seen to address is the starting point.

Condemnation of politicians who consort with elements whose ideologies are motivated by racist hate is an equally reasonable expectation.