On Sunday, August 24, the UK government pledged to review its asylum system following protests across the country over the weekend outside hotels housing migrants. The government said it would establish a new independent body to more quickly process appeals from rejected applicants, in an effort to end the costly use of asylum hotels, which have become the target of the protests.

On Friday, the Labour government announced it would appeal a court ruling banning it from housing asylum seekers in a hotel in southeast England that has become a hotbed of protests. The ruling prompted announcements of protests and counter-protests at hotels hosting asylum seekers across the country.

Demonstrations under the slogan "Abolish the Asylum System" took place on Saturday in cities including Bristol, Exeter, Tamworth, Cannock, Nuneaton, Liverpool, Wakefield, Newcastle, Aberdeen, Perth, and central London. Police separated feuding groups in Bristol, and officers clashed with protesters.

"Our officers handled this truly challenging situation brilliantly," said Keith Smith, a senior police officer with Avon and Somerset Police. "While there were some isolated moments of unrest, we are pleased to report that both protests passed without major incident," he added.

Eleven people have been arrested for various offences including being drunk and disorderly and assault in Liverpool.

Protests erupted outside a hotel in Epping, southeast England, after one of the tenants was accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Further protests are planned for Sunday in Manchester, northwest England, and Dudley in the Midlands.

Further protests are planned.

The policy of accommodating migrants in hotels was introduced by the last Conservative government, which was overthrown in the 2024 election. According to the latest official figures, 32,345 asylum seekers were temporarily staying in British hotels as of the end of March.

The government is working hard to reduce the backlog of initial asylum applications and judicial delays in appeals, which it says are the main reasons the asylum system is overwhelmed. A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the year ending June 2025—a record number. Currently, 106,000 cases are awaiting review, including at least 51,000 appeals. The average waiting time for an appeal is 53 weeks.

The government said it was "also drawing lessons from the experience of other European countries," including countries where appeals are heard by independent appeals bodies rather than being absorbed into a slow-moving court system.

"We inherited an asylum system in complete disarray, with a huge backlog of asylum applications and an ineffective appeals system," Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said in a press release. "We are determined to significantly reduce the number of people in the asylum system as part of our plan to eliminate refugee hotels… we cannot continue to allow these completely unacceptable delays in appeals," she added.

The government is under pressure to make a decision, particularly from the far-right Reform UK party, which enjoys high polling ratings. Its leader, Nigel Farage, told The Times that if he became prime minister, he would carry out mass deportations and organize five repatriation flights a day.