Migrant crisis: Bill for asylum hotels to his £5.4 BILLION in major overspend

Migrant crisis: Bill for asylum hotels to his £5.4 BILLION in major overspend

WATCH: Migrant FURY as Cumbria town with housing shortage to be INDUNDATED with asylum seekers

GB News
George Bunn

By George Bunn


Published: 29/02/2024

- 10:53

Labour has accused the Home Secretary of going to the Treasury 'with a begging bowl'

Migrant hotels and other asylum support are costing British taxpayers £15million a day according to new figures from Labour.

An overspend on asylum accommodation has forced the Home Office to secure an extra £4 billion from the Treasury.


Labour said there are currently more than 50,000 asylum seekers being housed full-board in hotels across the country.

The £5.4billion also covers asylum seekers living in self-catering accommodation, who receive £49.18 a week for each person in their household to cover food, clothing and other costs.

\u200bShadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the Tories have caused 'complete chaos'

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the Tories have caused 'complete chaos'

PA

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: "This lays bare the complete chaos the Tories have created in the asylum system.

"They are spending billions on hotel rooms because of their failure to clear the backlog of asylum applications.

"Despite promises of action from the Prime Minister, they have not delivered and now the Home Secretary has been forced to go to the Chancellor with a begging bowl because he's bust his budget by over £5 billion."

Immigration minister Michael Tomlinson said: "Labour have no plan to stop the boats and would take us back to square one, meaning unlimited and uncontrolled immigration.

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\u200bMichael Tomlinson KC, speaks in the House of Commons during a debate about the migrant crisis

Michael Tomlinson KC, speaks in the House of Commons during a debate about the migrant crisis

PA

"Sir Keir Starmer's approach to immigration would mean an extra 250,000 migrants a year."

According to Home Office mandarin Sir Matthew Rycroft, asylum was "a volatile area to budget."

In an open letter to the Commons home affairs committee, the minister said the £4 billion extra allocated to asylum support "was not an unanticipated spend but a result of record levels of small-boat arrivals since the Spending Review 2021."

The Home Office was given an extra £1.2billion to implement the Illegal Migration Act and Rishi Sunak's ten-point plan to combat illegal immigration, which he set out in July 2022.

The Government's plan to remove "irregular" migrants to Rwanda, to claim asylum there rather than here, was declared unlawful by the Supreme Court in November.

The government says its plan is to phase asylum seekers out of hotels and into "safe and secure housing."

However, attempts at introducing them into some areas, and the Home Office’s decision to set aside 16,000 homes, has sparked a significant backlash.

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