Ministers unveil plan to slash eye-watering £6m-a-day hotel bill for migrants trends now
Ministers vowed to put the 'interests of the British people' first today as they unveiled plans to house Channel migrants on old military bases and even in barges.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick laid out details of large-scale sites that will be used to accommodate arrivals in the UK, in a bid to cut the massive £6million-a-day-bill for hotels.
He said sites in Essex, East Sussex, Lincolnshire, and Rishi Sunak's North Yorks constituency had been earmarked.
He also said government is 'continuing to explore the possibility of accommodating migrants on vessels' - such as barges and cruise ships.
But Labour said Mr Jenrick was merely chasing 'headlines', saying the Home Office had already concluded that floating living quarters would be even more expensive.
Tory MPs also objected to proposals for sites in their own constituencies, with threats of legal action.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick laid out details of large-scale sites that will be used to accommodate arrivals in the UK, in a bid to cut the eye-watering £6million-a-day-bill for hotels
Offshore barges, similar to those used by construction crews (pictured), could be used to house migrants
Those on the vessels would be allowed on to land for a limited time for exercise, according to reports (file picture)
Deputy PM Dominic Raab dismissed worries the idea would break international law
Flanked by Home Secretary Suella Braverman in the Commons, Mr Jenrick said: 'We must not elevate the wellbeing of illegal migrants above those of the British people. It is in their interests that we are sent here.'
Making a Commons statement on illegal migration, he said: 'The sheer number of small boats have overwhelmed our asylum system and forced the Government to place asylum seekers in hotels.
'These hotels take valuable assets from communities and place pressures on local public services.
'Seaside towns have lost tourist trade, weddings have been cancelled and local councils have had their resources diverted to manage them and the hardworking British taxpayer has been left to foot the eye-watering £2.3billion a year bill.'
Mr Jenrick said he was 'announcing the first tranche of sites we will set up to provide basic accommodation at scale'.
'The Government will use military sites being disposed of in Essex and Lincolnshire, and a separate site in East Sussex.
'These will be scaled up over the coming months and will collectively provide accommodation to several thousands asylum seekers through repurposed barrack blocks and portacabins.'
'In addition, the Prime Minister is showing leadership on this issue by bringing forward proposals to provide accommodation at barracks in Catterick Garrison in his constituency.
'And we are continuing to explore the possibility of accommodating migrants in vessels, as they are in Scotland and in the Netherlands.'
SNP MP Alison Thewliss could be heard to heckling that 'it is not the same!'
Home Office source stress no deals for floating acommodation have been sealed - but Deputy PM Dominic Raab earlier dismissed worries it would break international law.
Countries such as the Netherlands have used ships and the Scottish government brought in a cruise ship temporarily to put up Ukrainian refugees.
But Labour and the Lib Dems questioned whether the proposals could meet 'minimum housing standards', branding them 'surreal' and 'gimmicky'.
The main plank of the statement from Mr Jenrick today is set to be deploying sites including an Essex airfield and RAF Scampton, home of the Dambusters squadron in the Second World War.
However, the proposals are likely to cause problems in local areas, with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly unhappy about a scheme in his own constituency.
It is understood that ministers are keen to pursue 'floating accommodation', such as disused cruise ships, ferries and barges.
Supporters of the concept say it is already used by other European countries, and Scotland deployed a cruise ship for Ukrainian arrivals awaiting housing - although it is now almost empty.
Mr Raab described barges as 'one possible option', telling Sky News that the use of hotels was acting as a 'perverse incentive' to encourage crossings.
He also insisted Mr Cleverly 'fully supports this policy' despite the opposition to the base in his constituency being used.
Mr Raab told BBC Breakfast there is a 'huge cost to the taxpayer' of hotel use, which he argued is acting as a 'pull factor'.
'We will look at the whole range of options, low-cost accommodation, ex-Army barracks and, where it's appropriate, as has been used elsewhere in Europe, and I think in Scotland as well, vessels, if they can safely and responsibly be used,' he said.
But the Refugee Council said
