Conservative MP Sir James Cleverly has condemned Government plans to expand the Wethersfield asylum centre in Essex, calling the proposal "disgraceful" and blasting that it "shows just how out of touch they are with the concerns of local communities".
The Braintree MP, whose constituency includes Wethersfield, warned the existing cap on numbers at the facility "was there to protect the safety and security" of constituents and "those working at and living on the site".
Speaking to GB News, the MP fumed: "When I was Home Secretary, and indeed, before I became Home Secretary, I made the point that Wethersfield was not the right place for this asylum accommodation centre. You can see from the aerial photographs that this is a very isolated site in the middle of rural North Essex.
"It is fine for its original purpose, which was a Second World War air base. It is no good as an asylum accommodation centre. I said that at the time, I was overruled. You don't win every argument in Government.
Sir James Cleverly has condemned potential government plans to expand the Wethersfield asylum centre in Essex,
GB NEWS
"But I've also made the point that expanding it would be completely wrong, and the Labour Government has completely lost track of illegal migration.
"They thought it was going to be easy. The numbers are now up by over 30 per cent year on year, and in order to claim some kind of headlines, they're now saying that they're going to close asylum hotels when they've got no plan to reduce the numbers.
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"I don't think that the good people of Wethersfield should bear the brunt of what has basically been a real failure by the Labour Government.
"When you look at what Government departments say, you need to look at the detail. They said there are currently no new plans. And I'm really uncomfortable, because that gives them a little bit of fudge factor.
"The Prime Minister said that he was going to close Wethersfield. Under the Conservatives, when we were in Government, there was a closure date of April 2027. They're now saying there are currently no plans to expand the site, but the number of arrivals is going up.
"They say they're going to close the hotels. They have got to put those people somewhere. And unfortunately, they are leaving themselves wiggle room when it comes to Wethersfield.
"I'm really worried that they're going to renege on their promise at the election and increase the number of people at Wethersfield."
In 2023 locals were strongly opposed to the centre being built
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He added: "We never pretended it was going to be that easy [to stop the boats]. And anyone that comes on and says, 'oh, it's really easy, all we have to do is do X, Y or Z' either doesn't understand the situation or is lying.
"This is a difficult thing to deal with, but the Labour Government, almost in their first act upon taking office, was to scrap the Rwanda scheme that I spent a huge amount of time negotiating with the Rwandan Government.
"I was accused by Yvette Cooper, who clearly has a vested interest in undermining my position. What I said was that the focus on [Rwanda] to the exclusion of other things was wrong.
"I always made the point that we should be looking to deter people from getting here and having somewhere that we can send people that we can't send home, whilst also making sure we get a grip of the supply chain.
WATCH: Nigel Farage astonished as outrageous demands made by hotel migrants exposed
"So my criticism of Rwanda, as much as it was an over-reliance on it by some of my Conservative colleagues, and I stand by that. It was always going to be part of a wider range of actions. But the Labour Party scrapped it.
"They also scrapped other things in the legal migration act, so they're trying to achieve more by doing less. Unsurprisingly, the numbers are going through the roof."
Labour is considering expanding large asylum seeker sites, including Wethersfield air base, as part of plans to end the use of asylum hotels by 2029, the BBC revealed on Monday.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves pledged in her Spending Review that stopping the use of taxpayer-funded hotels would save £1billion. The Home Office hopes to achieve this by moving asylum seekers from hotels into cheaper alternative accommodation.
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