Ministers have refuted allegations that the Home Secretary stopped efforts to place migrants in hotels if such accommodations were in “Tory voting districts.”
Suella Braverman is said to have blocked detainees from leaving the crammed-to-capacity Manston holding facility if their final destination was a Conservative-leaning district.
Three hotels in Labour-dominated districts were reportedly allowed last week, according to a Home Office source quoted by the radio station LBC. However, the source said Ms. Braverman followed a strategy initiated by her predecessor Priti Patel of denying this in areas controlled by her party.
Robert Jenrick, the minister of immigration, denied the existence of a political agenda.
According to him, illegal immigration has placed a significant strain on Kent residents not only this year but for a very long time.
I am really sympathetic to them, their local governments, and the job they have had to perform on behalf of the whole nation.
There is no politics involved; it is only a question of pragmatism that we strive to spread out people over the whole United Kingdom so that the weight is equitable.
However, Christine Jardine, a spokesman for the Liberal Democrats in the Cabinet Office, said: “If this is true, it’s another another example of the Conservatives putting the interests of their party ahead of the interests of the country and the rule of law.”
Suella Braverman has to respond to more serious inquiries concerning her actions as the Home Secretary.
The Cabinet Office Inquiry is required now more than ever; this is the breaking point.
A minister today issued a warning that as many as 50,000 migrants might cross the English Channel this year as Home Officials get ready to bus out “significant numbers” of asylum applicants from one of its overloaded processing centers.
As pressure mounts on the government to address the escalating migrant situation, immigration minister Robert Jenrick made the forecast today during a series of televised and radio appearances.
If accurate, the 50,000 prediction—roughly equivalent to the population of Winchester, a town in Hampshire county—would set a new annual record. Additionally, it would be more than twice as many travelers as previous year, who made the treacherous journey.
It happens at the same time that Home Secretary Suella Braverman informed the Cabinet today that the Dover immigration center has been reopened by the Home Office after a firebomb assault on Sunday.
Following the incident, the Western Jet Foil center, which was used to handle asylum seekers when they arrived in the UK, was shut down. The attacker of the attack eventually committed himself.
It has caused a significant influx of migrants to its Manston location in Kent, which has been described as “inhuman” after allegations of extreme congestion, violent breakouts, and diphtheria epidemics.
According to reports, Ms. Braverman informed the Cabinet that a “substantial number” of migrants will now be removed from the site and relocated to other areas in an effort to “relieve strain on Manston.”
The Home Secretary offered an additional update on the situation in Manston at Cabinet, the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson stated today during a news conference.
She said that the Western Jet Foil center (in Dover) had reopened and that many people were being transferred from Manston to other housing as a means of relieving the strain.
She said that the record number of crossings continues to present difficulties and that a whole-government strategy will be required to address it.
The news comes amid claims that migrants at the contentious Manston camp in Kent have been sleeping on the floors of tents for a month, aren’t permitted to use restrooms with the doors locked, and haven’t had a doctor stationed there since this past week.
Staff at the immigration station in Ramsgate in Kent have also observed ‘extremely uncomfortable’ events in the previous 24 hours – with some telling supervisors they are scared for their safety and residents reporting frequent escapes.