Asylum seekers to lose housing and support if they refuse to move out of hotels
The new crackdown has been ordered by Keir Starmer's government as it attempts to demonstrate it is taking action amid fears of a repeat of last year's summer riots, with violence already seen in Epping in Essex after the far right fuelled protests at an asylum hotel.
But the move also appears to be an attempt to get to grips with the continuing small boats crisis on the Channel, with fears of record crossings this summer.
The issue has been seen as a key reason why Nigel Farage's Reform UK is leading in the polls and taking votes away from Labour in their traditional heartlands.
The announcement also comes amid a row over the language being used by senior Tory figures, which some fear is 'stoking division' and 'inciting violence'.
The latest rant on social media came from shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick, who many believe is positioning himself to be a rightwing candidate in a new leadership bid to replace Kemi Badenoch.
In an inflammatory post on X, the former immigration minister took the side of protesters in Epping, saying: 'I don't want my young daughters to share a neighbourhood with men who broke into this country illegally and about whom we know next to nothing.
'And I don't want anyone else's family to have this forced on them either.
'When I see mothers and fathers peacefully protesting in Epping, I see decent, fair-minded people being pushed to breaking point.'
The violence and protests in Epping, which have seen 16 arrested, broke out after accusations were made about asylum seekers sexually abusing local women.
Mr Jenrick accused Sir Keir of 'being oblivious' to men pretending to be children to game the system, or migrants carrying guns and knives and, he claimed, security briefings suggesting that they pose a terrorist threat.
'It's high time Starmer took his head out the sand and listened to what communities are saying and experiencing. It's time he went and spoke to the law-abiding citizens who are being made to suffer the consequences of the failure to control our borders. Communities like Epping.'
It came just 24 hours after it emerged that asylum seekers may be using payment cards intended for buying essentials for gambling.
A Freedom of Information request made by PoliticsHome revealed more than 6,500 payments in gambling settings were attempted by asylum seekers in the past year, with shadow home secretary Chris Philp saying 'this madness has to end'. Meanwhile, fellow Tory MP Louie French took to X saying: 'Deport the migrants.'
Mr Jenrick's outburst provoked a furious response from Labour.
A Labour source said: 'Robert Jenrick was at the heart of a Conservative government that let the asylum system spiral into chaos. He had the power to act - and didn't. How dare he talk about a 'gutless elite' when for years he sat around the cabinet table and in the Home Office doing nothing?
'This Labour government is taking decisive action to regain control of our borders - cracking down on criminal gangs, clearing the asylum backlog, and ending the costly hotel use left behind by the Tories.'
Among the measures to tackle the crisis is the government's new failure to travel policy which will be published today and is designed to tackle non-compliance by asylum seekers. It will ensure individuals who are moved from hotels to suitable alternative accommodation must take it.
Those who refuse to move without a valid reason will now risk losing their housing and support. It is a firm but fair approach, aimed to end abuse of asylum support and contribute towards the closure of costly hotel accommodation.
While the government has a duty to support all asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute in appropriate accommodation, the new policy establishes clear consequences for those who game the system whilst protecting the vulnerable.
At the peak of the crisis under the previous administration, 400 hotels were being used to accommodate asylum seekers, costing £9 million per day.
The government made a clear commitment to end that practice, and is delivering. In the first three months of 2025 the number of asylum seekers in hotels fell by almost 6,000, a 15 per cent reduction since December. The number of hotels in use has now halved from its peak in 2023.
Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, said: 'We inherited an asylum system on the brink of collapse - mismanaged, under strain, and costing the public a fortune. We are getting a grip.
'We are working to close hotels, restore order, and put fairness and value for money at the heart of our asylum system. This government is making those necessary decisions to protect the taxpayer and uphold the integrity of our borders.
'These reforms to the Failure to Travel policy are another example of this government's action to transform the asylum accommodation system and crack down on those who abuse our system, so it operates fairly and saves the taxpayer money.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
11 minutes ago
- The Independent
Labour must speed up plans to shut all asylum hotels, says party's red wall chief
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.
Powys County Times
2 hours ago
- Powys County Times
UK working with Jordan to air drop aid into Gaza, PM tells Macron and Merz
The UK is working with Jordan on plans to air drop aid into Gaza and evacuate children needing medical assistance, Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed in a call with French and German counterparts. The Prime Minister held emergency talks with Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz on Saturday amid mounting global anger at the humanitarian conditions in the enclave. In a readout of the call, Number 10 said the leaders had agreed 'it would be vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently-needed ceasefire into lasting peace'. 'The Prime Minister set out how the UK will also be taking forward plans to work with partners such as Jordan to air drop aid and evacuate children requiring medical assistance,' a Downing Street spokesperson said. However, the head of the UN's Palestinian refugee agency warned airdrops were 'a distraction and screensmoke' that would fail to reverse deepening starvation in Gaza, and could in some cases harm civilians. UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said on Saturday: 'A man-made hunger can only be addressed by political will. Lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need.' Israel said on Friday it will allow airdrops of aid by foreign countries into Gaza to alleviate starvation in the Palestinian territory, where there is widespread devastation. The readout made no mention of the issue of Palestinian statehood, which the Prime Minister has faced calls to immediately recognise after French President Mr Macron confirmed his country would do so in September. However, Downing Street said the leaders had committed to 'work closely together on a plan' to 'pave the way to a long-term solution and security in the region'. Once the proposals have been 'worked up', they will seek to advance them with other key partners, including in the region, the readout said. Some 221 MPs from Labour, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, SNP, Greens, Plaid Cymru, SDLP and independents have signed a letter pressuring the Government to follow suit at a UN meeting next week. Donald Trump suggested Mr Macron's announcement, which saw him commit to formally recognising Palestinian sovereignty at the UN General Assembly in September, 'doesn't matter' as he left the US for a visit to Scotland. Sarah Champion, the senior Labour MP who organised the letter by parliamentarians, said recognition 'would send a powerful symbolic message that we support the rights of the Palestinian people'. Other senior Commons figures who signed the letter include Labour select committee chairs Liam Byrne, Dame Emily Thornberry and Ruth Cadbury. Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey, as well as Tory former minister Kit Malthouse, and Sir Edward Leigh – Parliament's longest-serving MP – also signed it. The majority of those who have signed, 131, are Labour MPs. The Government has so far said its immediate focus is on getting aid into the territory and insisted that recognising sovereignty must be done as part of a peace process. Charities operating in Gaza have said Israel's blockade and ongoing military offensive are pushing people there towards starvation, warning that they are seeing their own workers and Palestinians 'waste away'. But Mr Lazzarini said air drops can be dangerous as they can fall on top of civilians, and that being able to drive aid through is more effective and safer. 'Airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation. They are expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians,' he said. 'It is a distraction and screensmoke.' The Prime Minister will meet the US president during his trip to Scotland, where he arrived on Friday evening. US-led peace talks in Qatar were cut short on Thursday, with Washington's special envoy Steve Witkoff accusing Hamas of a 'lack of desire to reach a ceasefire'. The deal under discussion is expected to include a 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others in phases in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Telegraph
3 hours ago
- Telegraph
Corbyn: My party might be called Your Party after all
Jeremy Corbyn has said his new political party might be called Your Party after all. The former Labour leader and Zarah Sultana, his co-founder, invited voters to sign up to their new faction via the website when it launched on Thursday. Ms Sultana then declared: 'It's not called Your Party!' in response to a post on X by the news site Politics Joe, which claimed that it was. But in an interview with Novara Media on Saturday, Mr Corbyn said: 'The working title is – it's your party. 'Now, it may not end up being the name, but it might be the name. I want ideas for the name. If you've got ideas for the name, let me know, OK?' Mr Corbyn has said that more than 300,000 people have now registered their interest in the new party, which is expected to have its founding conference this autumn. The party hopes to have the infrastructure in place to fight Sir Keir Starmer's Labour at the local elections in May 2026, which are already being viewed as a key test for the Prime Minister. Asked about his party's core message, Mr Corbyn said: 'Britain should be a voice for peace in the world, not a voice for new nuclear weapons, not a voice for war, not a voice for selling arms. 'Secondly, our country is deeply divided. The levels of poverty are getting worse and worse. We're having none of that. 'We are a community-based, grassroots united organisation determined to challenge the establishment and bring about real political change to give real hope.' When challenged on whether he wanted to be prime minister, Mr Corbyn replied: 'Listen, mate, let's see what happens.' Mr Corbyn made two failed attempts to enter Downing Street when he led Labour to losses at the 2017 and 2019 general elections, with the 2019 defeat being Labour's worst since 1935. The MP for Islington North was stripped of the Labour whip by Sir Keir, his successor, the following year after claiming that problems in Labour with anti-Semitism on his watch had been 'overstated'. He went on to win Islington North, which he has represented since 1983, as an independent candidate. Polling suggests that a party led by Mr Corbyn could command anything between 10 per cent and 18 per cent at a general election. This would deal a significant blow to Sir Keir's blow of retaining his Commons majority after a first year in power which has already seen his popularity decline rapidly. The new outfit led by Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana is likely to split the political Left in a similar way to the rise of Reform UK on the Right, which has heavily damaged the Conservatives. The Left-wing pair have said they want to set up a political party 'that belongs to you' to take on what they claim is a 'rigged' system. Their priorities already include hitting the wealthiest Britons with heavier taxes and ending all arms sales to Israel, which they have accused of committing 'genocide' against Palestinians. Labour has dismissed the prospect of the new movement, with a source saying: 'The electorate has twice given its verdict on a Jeremy Corbyn-led party.'
