Given my experience in politics, not least including the three and a half years I had the privilege of being home secretary, I’m not surprised that the Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of the Government, allowing the Home Office to appeal the order stopping the Bell Hotel in Epping from being used to house asylum seekers.
When I was in post, I found it both a relief and a frustration that the higher the court an issue was referred to, the more likely it was that the judges understood the public policy implications of their decisions.
Concentrating on the council’s claims that the hotel owners had failed to get appropriate planning consent ignored wider considerations. This crucially included the danger of “incentivising protest” as the appeal judges noted.
The more senior the judge, I found, the more able they were to keep out of political controversy whilst ruling on the clear facts in front of them. For instance, as the judges did on Friday, acknowledging that the home secretary in any government should have the right to be heard in a case which had profound implications for the housing of migrants going through the asylum process.
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It’s disturbing that the judiciary has not become more aware in the 25 years since I was dealing with similar issues. Some judges still appear to be making narrowly-based judgments that can interfere with the sensitive and fine balance which ministers must always take into account in relation to the development and delivery of public policy.
Longer-term measures to deal with long-standing and seemingly intractable problems have to take precedence over the immediate and localised expression of feeling. Not least, in the feeble atmosphere of a hot summer filled with populist rhetoric relating to the arrival of asylum seekers crossing in small boats and the handling of the massive backlog of claims.
Friday’s judgment now gives the Government the chance to pull together the various strands of policy – along with improved processing and delivery – into a coherent narrative which allows for a balanced and thoughtful public dialogue.
When I was home secretary I was dealing with similar issues and having to face legal challenges. I know my colleagues in Government will once again come up with solutions, calmly deal with the enormous practicalities and get the balance right between the rights of the individual and the necessity of delivering long-term policy solutions in the public interest.
Lord Blunkett served as Labour education secretary (1997-2001), home secretary (2001-04) and work and pensions secretary (2005)
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