Conservatives 'got it wrong' on asylum hotels, shadow minister admits

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp denied the party was being hypocritical after leader Kemi Badenoch called for more Conservative councils to launch legal challenges over asylum hotels.

Her words came after Epping Forest District Council secured a temporary injunction from the High Court, blocking the use of the Essex town's Bell Hotel as accommodation for asylum seekers on planning grounds.

Ms Badenoch's comments come despite the fact that the growing reliance on hotels to house asylum seekers started in 2019 under the Tories' rule.

That year, Boris Jonhson's government offered ten-year taxpayer-funded contracts to three contractors - Cleansprings, Mears and Serco - who were responsible for liaising with local authorities for asylum seeker accommodation.

But as the UK housing crisis worsened and asylum applications grew, these companies increasingly relied on hotels to address the problem.

At it's peak, there were 56,042 asylum seekers being housed in hotels at the end of September 2023.

Mr Philip agreed the last government was wrong to use hotels, but believed it also took "very robust action" to reduce those numbers.

He also pointed out that the numbers of asylum seekers in hotels "actually went up" in the nine months after Labour came to power in July last year.

According to the new Home Office statistics, there were 32,059 asylum seekers being housed in hotels at the end of June - an 8% increase since the end of June 2024.

However, this was a 43% drop compared to the 56,042 peak recorded at the end of September 2023 and also a slight decrease on the total at the end of March, which was 32,345.

His comments come after Ms Badenoch hailed Epping Forest District Council's success following the High Court ruling earlier this week.

In a letter, she described the local authority's legal challenge as "a victory for local people" and told Tory councils she would "back you to take similar action to protect your community".

When asked by Tom Swarbrick at Breakfast if Ms Badenoch's comments implies all asylum seekers pose a threat, Mr Philp said: "I don't think that is the insinuation although of course everybody who's crossed the Channel has done so illegally because it is illegal to enter the UK in that way.

"I think there are concerns which Epping Council articulated in their legal action and that putting hundreds of young men into the middle of a small community can have quite significant impacts.

"But to get to the heart of this, to really stop this problem happening, you've got to stop the crossings.

"And that is why Labour have made such a big mistake by allowing these crossings to reach record ever levels. This year. They have a border crisis which is turning into a public security or public safety crisis as well."

Tuesday's High Court decision has prompted councils controlled by Labour, the Conservatives and Reform UK to investigate whether they could pursue a similar course of action.

It has also caused a potential headache for the Home Office, which has a legal duty to house destitute asylum seekers while their claims are being dealt with.

If planning laws prevent the Government from using hotels, ministers will face a scramble to find alternative accommodation, potentially in the private rented sector.

In May, a report found the three contractors who received taxpayers' money to house asylum seekers had made combined profits of £383 million since 2019.

These earnings were made after the expected costs of housing asylum seekers tripled.

Appearing before a parliamentary committee, two of the companies - Clearsprings and Mears - said they would hand back some of their profits to the Home Office.

Under contracts signed by the previous Conservative government, the contractors must pay back any profits of more than 5%.