Opening more asylum hotels will act as a ‘massive incentive’ for small boat crossings, Labour has been warned.
Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle revealed last week that asylum hotel use had risen since Labour entered government, with seven new hotels being brought into use since the general election in July.
In the Commons yesterday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper reminded her shadow counterpart Chris Philp of his plan to stop the boats with ‘giant wave machines’ as he accused her of opening more asylum hotels ‘instead of closing them’.
But during Home Office questions, Tory MP Julia Lopez said: ‘In recent weeks Channel crossings have been far higher than the Home Office expected, and that is why we have seen ministers rapidly approving new asylum hotels.
‘We’re told this situation is temporary, because asylum claims are apparently now being processed faster, moving people through accommodation faster too.
‘What reassurances can the minister give my constituents that the faster processing of asylum claims, with no deterrent in the system, will not simply act as a massive incentive for more people to come here on small boats?’
Around 300 asylum seekers are being housed at the Cresta Court Hotel in Altrincham, near Manchester
Migrants board a smuggler’s boat in an attempt to cross the English Channel, on the beach of Gravelines, near Dunkirk, northern France
During Home Office questions, Tory MP Julia Lopez suggested new asylum hotels would provide a motive for migrants to come to Britain
Ms Cooper replied: ‘Unfortunately, before the last election the previous government cut asylum decision making by 75% in the run-up to the election, took away case workers, and that is why the backlog was soaring.
‘We have now put case workers back into place so that we can start clearing the backlog, because asylum hotels are costing the taxpayer huge amounts a month.’
Earlier Mr Philp belatedly congratulated Ms Cooper on her appointment as Home Secretary, saying he knows ‘how difficult’ her job is from his time spent as a Home Office minister in the last government.
He said: ‘Since the election, 19,988 people have dangerously and illegally crossed the Channel, a 23% increase on the same period last year. Why does she think the numbers have gone up so much on her watch?’
Ms Cooper replied: ‘I think (Mr Philp) described his time in the Home Office as his best ministerial job ever, which, given that he was the chief secretary under Liz Truss, you can perhaps wonder why.
‘He was also the immigration minister who, I might remind him, told the Commons and the select committee that he would not rule out using giant wave machines as the way to stop small boat crossings.
‘We inherited record high levels of small boat crossings in the first half of this year, we have taken action to fix their chaos.’
Mr Philp referenced the previous government’s Rwanda deportation scheme, saying Ms Cooper had ‘cancelled the Rwandan deterrent before it even started’ and the Government is ‘opening up new hotels instead of closing them down’.
Ms Cooper said: ‘The highest level on record was the last six months of the last Conservative government while he was in government, and in fact, the numbers since the summer are not the highest on record that, unfortunately, was his legacy.
‘And while he was the immigration minister, he increased the number of asylum hotels 500% and increased the number of people in asylum hotels by over 900%.
‘So seriously, he should not try and give lectures to anybody else at all.’
The Mayor of Calais recently labelled British calls for French border police to be tougher on illegal migration as ‘pure hypocrisy’ and pushed to scrap a deal between the two countries aimed at cracking down on Channel crossings
Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe said ‘good government is transparent government’ as he called on the Home Office to publish ‘the number of crimes committed by illegal migrants’.
Dame Angela confirmed there will be ‘a huge statistical drop of immigration-related national statistics coming at the end of this week.’
Elsewhere in the session, the Tories called on the Government to go further to protect firearms officers when it comes to misconduct investigations.
Shadow Home Office minister Matt Vickers told the Commons: ‘I know the Home Secretary understands the importance of our brave firearms officers in dealing with serious and organised crime when they pose a danger to the public.
‘I welcome the measures to provide anonymity, however, will they consider going further by allowing a defence to misconduct or criminal proceedings if an officer can show they’ve followed their training and procedure?’
Ms Cooper said the Government intends to strengthen the law, adding: ‘The system needs to work much more speedily to support officers in very difficult, split-second decisions.
‘We have currently a review under way involving Tim Godwin and Sir Adrian Fulford that is looking at many of these issues.’
It comes after the Mayor of Calais labelled British calls for French border police to be tougher on illegal migration as ‘pure hypocrisy’ and pushed to scrap a deal between the two countries aimed at cracking down on Channel crossings.
Natacha Bouchart asked why France should shell out millions of euros to prevent the crossings of small boats over the Channel only for migrants to be allowed to work illegally with little chance of being deported when they land on British shores.
‘When the migrants arrive in Britain they work easily without documents. The British government must stop being in denial.
‘In reality, they accept migrants passing through Calais so they have to change the system. The UK should be stopping people, not us.
‘We think the French government and Europe aren’t being tough enough on this toward the British government,’ she told BBC Radio 4.
Bouchart’s latest comments come weeks after she called for a ‘showdown’ between Britain and France to decide a new migration policy, while Didier Leschi, France’s Director General of the Office for Immigration, declared that migrants see Britain as an ‘El Dorado’ – a mythical country of riches.
‘The issue for England is to have an internal system that appears to be an El Dorado – and probably wrongly so – since it’s a country where you can work very easily without having a residence permit,’ he said in September.
The UK saw the biggest rise in legal immigration of any major country last year, according to a report.
Overall OECD countries saw a total inflow of more than 6.5million people in 2023, up 10 per cent on the previous year and 28 per cent from 2019
The OECD put Britain at the top of the international table after long-term inflows increased by nearly 53 per cent to a record 750,000.
That was a larger increase than any other European state, and a more significant jump than the 13.4 per cent seen in the US.
Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he is ‘not relaxed’ about net migration levels – which are forecast to fall, but remain at an historically-high 315,000 a year in the medium term.
The latest report ignores Ukrainians seeking asylum amid the fallout from the Russian invasion.
Overall OECD countries saw a total inflow of more than 6.5million people in 2023, up 10 per cent on the previous year and 28 per cent from 2019.
‘Following an unprecedented increase in 2023, the United Kingdom rose to second place with a record 750,000 new migrants (250 000 more than in 2022, +52 per cent),’ the report said.
‘Germany, which had been the second OECD destination since 2012, fell to third place despite an increase of 4 per cent and nearly 700,000 new permanent-type entries.
‘Canada followed with 470 000 new permanent migrants (+7.8 per cent), and Spain recorded a 12 per cent increase to 360 000.’
The report pointed out that as well as the UK, Australia, Canada, France, Finland, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg and Switzerland all registered record immigration in 2023.
