Angela Eagle says hotels are necessary temporary step in keeping asylum system under control
Dame Angela Eagle, the Minister for Border Security and Asylum, confirmed in a House of Commons debate today that there has been a slight increase in the number of hotels used to house asylum seekers since Labour came to power.
Image credit: WikipediaLabour's election manifesto had pledged to "end asylum hotels".
In response to an urgent question in the Commons by Gavin Williamson MP on the Government's decision to recommence using hotels as asylum accommodation, Angela Eagle stated: "The right hon. Gentleman asks whether we will produce a list of hotels that are currently in use. He will know that, when he was in government, hotel use peaked at more than 400. I can tell him that, currently, there are 220 hotels in use. At the time of the election, there were 213 hotels in use, but since July seven hotels have shut and 14 have opened, which has created a net increase of seven."
Earlier in the debate, Eagle told the Commons: "Hotels are not a permanent solution, but a necessary temporary step in keeping the system under control and ensuring it does not descend into chaos. We will restore order to the asylum system so it operates swiftly, firmly and fairly. As we progress with that, it is right that we deliver on our legal responsibilities and ensure people are not left destitute. Ultimately, we will be able to tackle irregular migration and bring the cost of the system down by billions of pounds. It remains our ambition to exit hotels; however, in the nearest future, they remain key to delivering on our legal responsibilities in ensuring people are not left destitute."
Gavin Williamson accused Labour of abandoning a manifesto promise, asking the minister: "What has changed so drastically that has caused Labour to abandon a manifesto pledge so quickly? Considering that there is a correlation between the removal of a deterrent effect, which our party had put in place, and a rise in crossings, what will the Government do to provide a credible deterrent going forward?"
Conservative MP Chris Philp noted that under the previous Conservative government between September 2023 and 30 June 2024, the number of asylum seekers in hotels went down by 47%. Philp said Channel crossings had increased since the election and Labour had scrapped the Rwanda deterrent before the first flight had taken off.
Downplaying criticism from opposition MPs, Angela Eagle told the Commons: "The system is beginning to get flow-through, and as that happens, we will exit from hotels. We have had to have a small increase. We have been in power four months. The manifesto did not say that we would end the use of hotels in four months. When the Conservatives were in power, more than 400 hotels were in use at its height."
The minister said the asylum system had "ground to a complete halt" under the Conservatives.
She later added: "We certainly are having to get the system back up and running from a virtual standing start … That means that we have been able, as I said, to go up from processing only 1,000 asylum claims a month to nearly 10,000 a month. Those who have gone through the whole system and have received a grant, for example, need then to exit our asylum accommodation. That allows us to backfill and, in the end, to exit hotels. However, that is not an instant solution; the system has ground to a halt and we must redeploy resource to get it up and running again."
The SNP's Pete Wishart accused the Government of "simply copying and aping the failed and disastrous policies of the Conservative Government on hotel accommodation," and said Labour and Conservatives were engaging in a "grotesque competition to see who can sound the hardest on asylum seekers".