Migrant hotels set to be used for four more years as Labour pushes back deadline again

20 comments

1. ***The Telegraph reports:***

   Hotels are set to continue to be used to house asylum seekers for up to the next four years, the Home Office’s top civil servant has admitted.

   [Sir Matthew Rycroft](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/07/06/top-civil-servant-criticised-for-partnership-phrase/), the Home Office’s permanent secretary, said the department’s “overarching aim” was to “exit” hotels by the end of the Parliament, which is due at the latest by August 2029.

   His statement to MPs on the Commons home affairs committee contrasts with a declared pre-election ambition by Labour to “end the use of [hotels for asylum seekers](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/10/24/home-office-migrants-hotels-costs-report/) within 12 months” of recruiting 1,000 caseworkers to tackle the backlog of applications.

   The party’s manifesto did not set a similar timescale and simply stated that a Labour Government would “end [asylum hotels](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/25/asylum-hotels-will-bring-britains-welfare-state-to-its-knee/), saving the taxpayer billions of pounds.” Since coming to power, Labour ministers have acknowledged that it “will take time” and pledged their “intention” to end asylum hotels “as soon as possible.”

   The number of hotels reached a peak of 400 under the Tories in autumn 2023, when it housed around 56,000 asylum seekers at a [cost of £3 billion to the taxpayer](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/17/the-100m-asylum-seeker-con-northeye-bibby-stockholm/).

   It had fallen to 213 by the time of the election last July but had risen to 220 by last October, housing some 35,000. Last month, Dame Angela Eagle, the Border Security Minister, admitted there had been a net rise of six hotels but said that nine were scheduled to close by the end of March.

   Labour has [ramped up efforts to clear the backlog](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/07/17/labour-fast-track-asylum-claims-90000-migrants-rwanda-uk/), with a five-fold increase in the number of [asylum applications](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2025/02/17/theres-only-one-way-to-end-our-immigration-crisis/) being processed since the election to around 10,000 a month.

   However, this has been tempered by the arrival of more than [25,000 migrants](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/23/migrants-rescued-in-channel-as-crossings-for-year-hit-25000/) who have been intercepted crossing the Channel since Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister.

   **Read more:** [**https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/02/17/migrant-hotels-set-to-be-used-for-four-more-years-labour/**](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/02/17/migrant-hotels-set-to-be-used-for-four-more-years-labour/)

2. So…from 400 hotels to 213 now and 1,000 new caseworkers hired to process these cases and get these people either approved to work or sent home.

   I fail to see what festering scab the Torygraph is trying to pick at with this one.

3. Ah the more we hear about Tory incompetence the worse it gets!

   People should be prosecuted for this!

   Tory Home Secretary’s must be held responsible?

4. That graph is purposefully trying to make it look like there are now 125k people a year coming into the country. Fear mongering journalism and shit data analysis.

5. Can’t believe anyone actually reads the Telegraph 😆

6. The word hotel needs to be banned from newspapers I swear. These are detention centres that have been converted from buildings that used to be hotels.

7. You know, I wish people would be happy with significant progress being made (less hotels, more people being hired to process them) but nope, they’ll just grab hold of the fact the problem isn’t solved by waving a magic wand and trash Labour

8. Well, where else would the keep them whilst there processed not like we can magic anywhere else out our arses

9. The left is completely insane and is going to cause the complete and utter downfall of the west, it is done, we are doomed.

10. Be like Poland be like America. Stop the woke spending insanity. Take care of your own house.

11. Bye bye labour

12. Hasn’t everyone had enough already. The only people who can defend this surely pay zero tax

13. As usual, the Torygraph makes another insincere and disingeous article.

14. They are welcome here

15. Surprise surprise.

16. I sincerely hope the rest of the public are more intelligent than the people in this thread.

    There’s like one honest person pointing out they’re slashing the number of hotels in half and drastically accelerating the processing by hiring more staff and then all the rest are trying to pretend that Labour aren’t doing an amazing job on this.

    Incoming silent downvotes.

17. All I want is a socially liberal government that funds the NHS and looks out for the average worker, instead we’re gonna get Trump-style Faragism from Reform because none of our governments can grow a backbone and sort out immigration.

18. Ah, till the end of their term when they probably won’t be their problem anymore.
    Classic.
    I love having such an efficient and well planned government…

19. Here’s a better idea: shut down all the migrant hotels, cut funding and deport all illegals

20. If you’re up at 1130pm one can only assume your on the dole. Syutch a CHAV get some training for yourself. So many special programs for people with your condition.

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