Labour must shut down all asylum hotels “a lot quicker” than its current plan to put a stop to them by the end of the current parliament in 2029, the chairman of the party’s red wall group of MPs has said.
Jo White, the MP for Bassetlaw, who leads a caucus of around 40 MPs in the party’s traditional heartlands, said Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ plan to axe the use of asylum hotels by 2029 needed to be sped up.
There are currently around 32,000 asylum seekers in hotels around the UK. Anti-migrant demonstrations last week outside one of those hotels, in Epping, led to more than a dozen arrests. The hotel was thrust into the spotlight after a man living there was charged with sexual assault, harassment and inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity. The man, from Ethiopia, has denied the offences and remains on remand in custody.
Ms White told The Telegraph: “There’s a commitment to close down the hotels by the end of the parliamentary term. I think we all want it to be a lot, lot quicker than that.”
“There is a huge sense of unfairness because people work hard here in this country and commit to supporting the country and then there’s the sense that what asylum hotels cost is a huge drag on what should be invested into our NHS, our schools and our infrastructure.
“So they have to close, we have to get those asylum hotels cleared out.”
She added that she believes Labour ministers share her frustrations and went on to urge Sir Keir Starmer to “stop the incentives” for those seeking to reach the UK illegally.
A record 24,000 migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year, the highest tally for the first half of the year since records began in 2018. It represents a 48 per cent rise compared to the first six months of last year.
Ms White welcomed home secretary Yvette Cooper’s plan to share asylum‑hotel locations with food‑delivery firms, calling it a sensible measure to crack down on illegal working. She also urged Sir Keir Starmer and Ms Cooper to revisit the idea of national identity cards, a proposal repeatedly ruled out by Downing Street.
Reflecting on last week’s demonstrations in Epping, however, she described the scenes as “really frightening and quite scary”, adding that while anger is understandable, violence against asylum seekers could not be condoned.
It was revealed last week that plans to reduce the number of asylum hotels could see migrants rehoused in vacant residential properties and council‑owned homes. Public concern over the scheme has intensified as Sir Keir has vowed to significantly reduce both legal and illegal migration.
At the same time, more than 40,000 failed asylum seekers remain in limbo, having appealed against their decisions and still requiring housing.
A government spokesman said that since taking office, ministers had acted immediately to fix the asylum system, closing hotels and removing over 35,000 people with no right to be here.
