Chesterfield's Labour MP calls for 'patience' around migrant hotels
Toby Perkins tells us the government are doing all they can to improve the situation
Chesterfield's Labour MP is calling for 'patience' around the government's policy on dealing with asylum seekers.
Currently - the Home Office says 210 hotels are being used to house migrants in the UK.
Toby Perkins insists the government know full well that the system in place right now isn't sustainable:
"We have got to get an immigration & asylum system in place that works.
"That means that claims get processed, and those who are entitled to be here stop being asylum seekers and integrate fully into society - while those who aren't entitled to be here go back to where they came from.
"I'm not of a view that an asylum system that relies on having hundreds of hotels all around the country is a competent way of working.
"From my perspective, the Labour government has inherited this; we've had a 43% reduction in the number of hotels compared to its peak.
"This government is committed to ending hotel usage for asylum seekers.
"In the interim, we've got to try and make these hotels work whilst trying to reduce the numbers the best that we can.
"We also need to make sure that whatever system is used is one that is fair on the taxpayer, as well as providing people with safe refuge.
"We've had 36,000 failed asylum seekers return to their homes, and we also have a large number that have been approved for asylum.
"Therefore, this was always going to be a time-consuming process."
Almost 400 hotels in the UK were being used to house asylum seekers back in March of 2023.