The Home Office has been accused of "wasting" a "shocking" amount of money as GB News reveals that tens of thousands of pounds have been spent on entertaining migrants at a Kent processing facility.
The results of a Freedom of Information request show that more than £60,000 has been splashed on providing TVs, with satellite channels, video games and other entertainment at the Manston processing centre.
The facility only houses migrants for an average of up to 48 hours after arriving in Kent, before they are sent off to hotels and other government accommodation.
The former Chief Executive of Border Force, Tony Smith told GB News: “It’s blatantly obvious that the word is out in Calais and beyond that you just need to get across the Channel and a life of luxury awaits."
The Home Office has been accused of "wasting" a "shocking" amount of money as GB News reveals that tens of thousands of pounds have been spent on entertaining migrants at a Kent processing facility
GB News
Another senior security source blasted the move, saying: "This is crazy. These migrants have gone months living in tents without any access to TV and video games and managed just fine.
"But we're just rewarding bad behaviour. This is a shocking waste of money, the British public's money."
GB News can reveal that over the past three years, the Home Office has paid just under £12,000 each year to equip Manston's marquees with 14 televisions.
Another FOI revealed that more than £15,000 had been spent on equipping the facility with video games consoles, including PlayStation, Nintendo and Xbox.
Together with other subscriptions for magazines and newspapers, the taxpayer has paid more than £60,000 for Manston migrant entertainment.
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Tony Smith said: "In my day, illegal entrants were detained and wherever possible put into a fast-track asylum system with a focus on rapid processing and removal.
"Nowadays migrants know that it’s highly unlikely you will ever get removed if you come by boat, and our asylum support system will look after you in a way that’s a far cry from the tents of Calais.
"I’m afraid that this simply fuels the pull factor and the smuggling pipeline into the UK, and it will do nothing to achieve the reduction in the arrival numbers that most people want to see.”
The latest revelation comes as the numbers crossing from France have now reached more than 12,600 for the year so far.
The results of a Freedom of Information request show that more than £60,000 has been splashed on providing TVs, with satellite channels, video games and other entertainment at the Manston processing centre
GB News
That figure is 40 per cent higher than those who made the illegal journey the year before.
A senior security source told GB News that paying for entertainment for migrants was counterproductive.
"We're increasingly being seen as a soft touch," he said.
"The Home Office might argue that they are laying on entertainment as a distraction, to ensure there is no disorder.
"But then I'd ask, if you need to mitigate against the possibly of trouble from those who've just entered the country and will only ever be in Manston for a couple of days, what kind of people are we letting into the country?"
GB News has reached out to the Home Office for comment.
