Angela Eagle said short-term solution necessary despite Labour election pledge to end use of accommodation

The asylum system would “descend into chaos” if Labour refused to open more hotels for people seeking refuge in the UK, a Home Office minister has told the Guardian.

Angela Eagle, the minister for borders, security and asylum, said officials had been forced to find more private accommodation for new arrivals and blamed the backlog of tens of thousands of cases built up under the last government.

The government’s decision to open asylum hotels despite Keir Starmer’s pledge that he would close them have been condemned by the Tories and Reform.

In Labour’s election manifesto, Starmer said he would “end asylum hotels, saving the taxpayer billions of pounds”.

In her first public comments on the development, Eagle said ministers had no choice but to make the temporary move after discovering nearly 120,000 unprocessed asylum claims after Labour took power.

  • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukEnglish
    11·
    14 days ago

    In Labour’s election manifesto, Starmer said he would “end asylum hotels, saving the taxpayer billions of pounds”.

    But not on day one, they need to hire and train more people to process the claims - it’ll pay for itself. The Tories not doing so seemed like deliberately creating a problem they could then utilise for their own ends.

    • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
      31·
      14 days ago

      They did create the problem. When they close the safe routes inevitably it meant that people started coming over on the dreaded “small boats”. Rather than the approved method of asking for asylum, then being granted asylum, and then coming over on the ferry.

      The issue isn’t that people want to come and live in the UK the issue is that people who want to come and live in the UK are not being given legal methods to do so. It’s not like these methods didn’t exist, the Tories removed them

    • mannycalavera@feddit.uk
      3·
      14 days ago

      I think this gives too much credit to how badly run the Home Office is. Regardless of political party it is, and will remain, an utter shit show. There’s only so much incompetence throwing money at a department can cover up.

      • Psaldorn@lemmy.world
        7·
        14 days ago

        But defunding the immigration desk was a surefire way to make a mountain out of a molehill they could then campaign on.

        Amazes me people would vote Tory because of immigration when they had the reins for over a decade. They didn’t change it because they didn’t want to change anything, they just want people to get riled up about it