UK has to reduce reliance on hotels to house migrants, says Robert Jenrick

The UK has to "reduce its reliance connected hotels" for lodging migrants and asylum seekers, migration curate Robert Jenrick has said.

Speaking to the BBC, helium said helium had to look aft taxpayers and his work was to the British nationalist implicit migrants.

He added it was "fair and reasonable" to inquire asylum seekers to stock rooms successful hotels successful immoderate circumstances.

It follows a quality with asylum seekers implicit their impermanent accommodation successful cardinal London.

Last week, astir 40 asylum seekers were offered abstraction successful a Pimlico hotel, but refused to enter aft being asked to slumber "four radical per room".

Head of Westminster Council Adam Huq expressed his interest successful a missive to the location secretary, saying radical who "are apt to person been done important and traumatic events" were being asked to stock "an inappropriately sized country with aggregate strangers".

Asked astir the lawsuit connected the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Mr Jenrick said the authorities did not privation to usage hotels but added "where we are utilizing them, it's close that we get bully worth for wealth for the taxpayer".

"And truthful if azygous big males tin stock a room, and it's ineligible to bash so, which volition evidently beryllium connected the size of the accommodation, past we'll inquire radical to bash that," helium added.

He besides said the UK's asylum strategy was "riddled with abuse" and that the state could not beryllium allowed to beryllium "perceived arsenic a brushed touch".

Labour said successful response: "After 13 years of Tory failure, the asylum strategy isn't conscionable breached - it's costing taxation payers a luck - lone Labour has a due program to halt unsafe vessel crossings."

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made reducing the numbers coming to the UK illegally 1 of his cardinal priorities. Part of his program is to instrumentality the Illegal Migration Bill, presently going done Parliament.

It would springiness ministers caller powers to region anyone arriving successful the UK illegally and halt them claiming asylum here.

But it has attracted fierce disapproval including from the Archbishop of Canterbury, who said it risked "great damage" to the UK's reputation.

The BBC understands the Home Office estimates the plans successful the measure could outgo betwixt £3bn and £6bn done spending connected detention facilities, arsenic good arsenic ongoing accommodation and removals.

Last twelvemonth the fig of radical arriving successful the UK successful tiny boats via the English Channel deed implicit 45,000 - the highest fig since figures were archetypal collected successful 2018.

The authorities is trying antithetic ways to accommodate the rising numbers of radical who are coming to the UK, including lodging radical successful barges oregon facilities connected aerial bases.

Mr Jenrick was keen to repetition his assertion that the authorities is taking a robust approach, and that by asking migrants to stock rooms helium wants to chopped the costs to the taxpayer.

But helium was little keen to admit that the backlog for asylum claims is highly high, and that compared to a fewer years ago, it takes overmuch longer for cases to beryllium resolved.

The problems with accommodation astatine 395 hotels astir the state would beryllium acold little acute if determination were less radical stuck successful the system.