Labour’s pledge to end asylum hotel use has faced setbacks as new figures have revealed a net increase in accommodation sites since taking power in July.
Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle disclosed to Parliament that while seven hotels had closed, 14 new ones had opened during Labour’s tenure.
Eagle told MPs that while hotel use had increased since July, it remained far below Conservative levels.
“When the previous Tory Government were in power, hotel use peaked at over 400,” she said.
At least seven more hotels are being used by migrants since Labour took power in July
PA
The minister explained that at the time of the election, there were 213 hotels in use, with recent changes resulting in the current total of 220.
She confirmed the Government remains “absolutely committed” to ending the use of hotels for asylum seekers.
Eagle explained the challenges were inherited from the Tories, which left 116,000 asylum seekers “stuck in a backlog” exceeding two years.
She told Parliament the system had “ground to a standstill” due to the previous Government’s focus on the Rwanda policy, which she called “doomed to failure”.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Comfort Inn hotel on Belgrave Road in Pimlico, central London, where the Home Office previously asked a group of refugees to be accommodated four to a room
PA
“We inherited an unholy mess from the party opposite,” she said, noting that only one person had been voluntarily sent to Rwanda before Labour scrapped the policy.
Labour has significantly increased the processing of asylum cases since taking power, according to Eagle with monthly case processing rising from less than 1,000 to 10,000 cases under the new administration.
The minister highlighted that nearly 10,000 people have been returned to their countries of origin since July, representing “nearly a 20 per cent increase” on previous figures.
“We are working on making the asylum system fit for purpose,” Eagle told MPs.
Dame Angela Eagle said her party remains ‘absolutely committed’ to ending the crisis
PA
Conservative critics have challenged Labour’s handling of the asylum situation, with former minister Sir Gavin Williamson expressing “utter shock and dismay” at hotels reopening in his constituency.
He accused the Government of lacking transparency, telling MPs: “It’s a diktat that they receive with no support and no help.”
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “The minister has just admitted at the despatch box, far from ending the use of hotels, they are in fact opening up even more – 14 she just admitted.”
