The Home Secretary may today be celebrating victory after the Court of Appeal ruling that 140 male asylum seekers can remain at the Epping hotel which lies at the centre of anti-immigrant protests, but she has unquestionably lost hands-down in the court of public opinion.
Yvette Cooper, let us remember, is a member of a party that claims to represent working people against vested interests.
But today saw the Government's finest legal minds working at her behest to block Epping Forest District Council's attempt to close down the de facto migrant hostel for the sake of its voters.
Yes, the court's decision buys some time for Ms Cooper in the short term, but it also reveals the Government's deep contempt not only for the for the people of Epping but for anyone living in the shadow of an asylum hotel who is worried about the threat of crime and disorder in their midst.
It is no exaggeration to say the Government's position is so disastrously at odds with the will of the people that the case is little short of a slow-burn time-bomb, particularly at a time when the issue of border control and asylum seekers is the subject of such heated public debate.
