The leader of the Conservatives in Trafford has told GB News that local church leaders have accused his group of spreading “fear and uncertainty” after they announced a motion to close down small boat migrant hotels.
The Tory group on Trafford Council has tabled a motion calling for both the Cresta Court Hotel in Altrincham and the Ashley Hotel in Hale to close amid concerns of men “gathering in the local parks” nearby.
The motion, which will be heard at an emergency council meeting next week, outlines that the council should take inspiration from Epping in launching a legal effort to shut down the hotels.
In July, Epping Forest District Council passed a unanimous motion to shut the Bell Hotel, which was the site of protests after an Ethiopian small boat migrant sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl.
The Trafford motion said that it “demonstrated that councils, regardless of political control, can unite to hold both hotel owners and the Home Office to account.”
But the political move has not been welcomed in all corners of Trafford, with local church leaders issuing a statement accusing “some in our community” of trying to make “political capital from having asylum seekers in our town.”
The statement, signed by seven reverends, accused them of “aiming to promote uncertainty and fear.”
The church statement also said that “many of Altrincham and Hale’s residents have welcomed the opportunity to offer kindness and compassion” to the asylum seekers, later pointing to biblical inspiration for their pro-migration stance.
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The motion was tabled by the Tory group at Trafford Council (pictured)
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“In the Bible we are repeatedly instructed to welcome the stranger/foreigner into our community, and to care for others as we would do for our own.
“In the New Testament Jesus teaches that we should welcome others because in doing so we are welcoming Jesus himself. That is what drives us to act today.”
Cllr Nathan Evans, the leader of Trafford Conservatives, told GB News that there was no doubt that the reverends were responding to the Tory motion and that it was inappropriate for church leaders to make these comments.
“Fear and uncertainty has been generated with these hotels. The council has been deaf to any concerns.
PICTURED: The Cresta Court Hotel in Altrincham, which has sparked accusations of men 'gathering in the local parks' nearby
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“It’s inappropriate for the church to make these comments, it’s out of touch with local residents and disappointing. This is an issue that the council needs to deal with.”
The Tory motion said that residents were concerned by the “use of open spaces in Altrincham library for public prayer” and that letters had been sent to parents “expressing caution over groups of grown men gathering near school gates.”
Mr Evans said that “mothers are stopping their children using the parks over the summer period because of the undocumented residents of these hotels.”
He denied that he was making political capital out of the issue.
PICTURED: The Britannia Ashley Hotel in Hale - the second of the two hotels facing calls to close
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“The only other option is saying nothing and that is unacceptable. We are raising genuine concerns that residents have.
"Why have the church leaders suddenly decided to issue a statement now? Is it because the few councillors willing to raise residents’ concerns have done so?”
Conservative Laura Evans, who stood against Andy Burnham twice in Greater Manchester mayoral elections, told GB News that it was “disheartening” as a churchgoer to see the statement from the collection of reverends.
The Altrincham United Reformed Church, which hosted the statement on its website, was contacted for comment.