Suella Braverman says she will fix broken asylum system

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has pledged to hole the UK's "broken" asylum strategy and defied absorption calls for her resignation.

During a heated statement astatine Westminster, Ms Braverman denied she blocked the usage of hotels to easiness overcrowding astatine the Manston migrant processing centre.

She sparked immoderate MP's fury erstwhile she said her policies were designed to repel an "invasion" connected the southbound coast.

Labour condemned her remarks and accused her of being unfit for office.

Shadow location caput Yvette Cooper said decision-making astatine the Home Office had "collapsed" connected Ms Braverman's ticker and asked however "anyone is expected to person confidence" successful her.

Some 4,000 radical are being held astatine the Manston processing centre, which is lone designed to accommodate 1,600 radical connected a impermanent basis.

Hundreds of radical were moved determination connected Sunday aft a antheral threw firebombs astatine a abstracted migration centre successful Dover. He was aboriginal recovered dormant nearby.

Manston opened arsenic a processing centre successful February 2022, for the increasing fig of migrants reaching the UK successful tiny boats and are lone expected to beryllium kept determination for 24 hours for information and individuality checks.

They are past meant to beryllium moved into the Home Office's asylum accommodation system, which often means a hotel.

When the main inspector of migration visited past week, helium recovered immoderate radical had been determination for implicit a month. That included one household who had been determination for 32 days, sleeping connected mats successful a marquee.

Ms Braverman has besides been accused of ignoring ineligible proposal to procure much accommodation for migrants amid warnings that the centre was successful information of becoming dangerously overcrowded.

Sources person told the BBC the location caput was warned by officials the authorities was acting extracurricular the instrumentality by failing to supply alternate accommodation.

In a bullish connection successful Parliament, Ms Braverman said "I person ne'er ignored ineligible advice" by keeping radical detained astatine Manston for longer than necessary.

Responding to questioning by Ms Cooper, Ms Braverman said connected nary juncture did she artifact hotels oregon "veto proposal to procure other and exigency accommodation".

She claimed "on my watch" the usage of 30 caller hotels had been agreed since 6 September and she had "worked hard to find alternate accommodation to relieve the unit astatine Manston".

Ms Braverman said her policies of co-operating with French authorities and sending immoderate asylum seekers to Rwanda would curb Channel crossings, calling the existent strategy "broken" and amerciable migration "out of control".

A study pursuing an inspection by the situation work successful July recovered the absorption and attraction of arriving migrants astatine the centre had considerably improved.

Inspectors recovered it had been well-equipped and was being professionally tally - but said they inactive had immoderate important concerns.

Among their findings were a deficiency of beds and nary entree to caller aerial oregon exercise. The study said immoderate toilet doors did not adjacent afloat and translation services were not ever used.

A spokesperson for the Home Office welcomed the report, and said officials "continue to enactment hard to resoluteness the existent pressures astatine Manston arsenic an urgent priority".

But the main inspector of prisons, Charlie Taylor, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme connected Monday that "the location bureau and and contractors request to get a grip".

He called connected officials to "make suitable provisions truthful radical tin beryllium moved disconnected tract arsenic rapidly arsenic imaginable and housed successful humane and decent conditions".

Ms Braverman's statement of tiny boats crossing the Channel arsenic an "invasion" drew condemnation, with 1 exile foundation calling her comments "indefensible".

In her statement, Ms Braverman warned against utilizing "inflammatory language" and spoke of a "witch hunt" against her, arsenic she attempted to rally enactment among Tory MPs.

"I'm determined to bash immoderate it takes," she went on. "That is wherefore I'm successful government. That's wherefore immoderate radical would similar to beryllium escaped of me."

She past paused arsenic her connection was interrupted by heckles from absorption MPs, earlier adding: "Let them try."

The authorities has said successful the twelvemonth ending June 2022, determination were 63,089 asylum applications, 77% much than successful 2019.

The UK is spending astir £7m a time connected hotels for asylum seekers - and the outgo is apt to rise, MPs heard past week.

The Guardian reported connected Sunday determination were present astatine slightest 8 cases of diphtheria and a lawsuit of MRSA astatine Manston.