Yesterday (Tuesday 8th November) in the House of Commons Blackpool North & Cleveleys Conservative MP Paul Maynard called on the Government to ensure that the town’s Metropole Hotel is among the first hotels as plans for such accommodation to be exited is implemented. He stated that the seafront hotel was currently accommodating 400 asylum seekers.
MP Maynard appears to be pleased with the most positive response he received. On his Facebook page, he said, ‘It was good to hear the Minister wants to stop using hotels altogether, and even better to hear that he is minded to include Blackpool in the first wave to be ‘stood down’. This is a victory after many months of lobbying that this is an inappropriate location.’
This follows MP Maynard’s direct address to the Immigration Minister, Robert Jenrick.
In the Commons, MP Maynard said: ‘The Home Office is accommodating 400 asylum seekers in the Metropole Hotel in the centre of Blackpool in my constituency. It lies in Claremont, the 4th most deprived ward in the country, an area with a host of social problems and a difficult history of child sexual exploitation. These problems were pointed out when the hotel was first commissioned by the Home Office, by me and by the Council. Those issues have not changed. Dispersal from the hotel has been slow. I welcome the fact he is going to exit the hotels, but can he make sure the Metropole is the first hotel to the exits?’
In response, Robert Jenrick, the Minister for Immigration, stressed his intention to swiftly disperse migrants at the Metropole to more appropriate accommodation.
The Minister said, ‘Having worked with my Hon. Friend on a range of issues, I know how deeply and thoughtfully he addresses the issues in Blackpool. I appreciate that Blackpool is one of the areas that has borne a disproportionate burden from this issue for a long time, so if there is a way to ensure that individuals are dispersed from Blackpool more swiftly than from other parts of the country, I am happy to look into that. My objective is that we exit the hotels and get people into more sustainable accommodation. That requires, in part, other local authorities to step up and play a greater role in accommodating people rather than relying time and again on our largest cities, Kent and a small number of other local authorities, such as Blackpool.’
It is reported that the use of hotels is currently costing taxpayers nearly £5 million a day.
MP Maynard’s question and the Minister’s response may be viewed here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=448592664056553
One Response
Just send them all back to France. Let them deal with them. Our people come first. You know us pensioners and people already living on the streets. House them first.
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