Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, said he wanted to house asylum seekers who had arrived in the UK by small boats in “some larger sites to provide decent but basic accommodation”, without naming specific locations. His comments came as more than a dozen Tories questioned the use of hotels in their constituencies as the Home Office tries to distribute the recent arrivals across the country. On Monday, Rishi Sunak held talks with EU leaders about restricting the use of small boats in the English Channel. Some MPs urged him to “send back” people arriving by boat from France, while others urged him to break international law so that people who arrive are immediately deported without going through the asylum system. Conservative former minister Maggie Throup said 400 asylum seekers were housed in two hotels in her constituency of Erewash, Derbyshire, a location that was “totally unsuitable” because there were “no basic amenities nearby” or extra resources for local services. Asked to provide a timeline for their closure, Jenrick said hotels were not a long-term answer. “We may need to get some bigger sites to provide decent but basic housing and of course we’ll need to get through the backlog so we can get more people out of the system – either by returning them to their country of origin or granting them asylum.” , he said. Lee Anderson, the Conservative MP for Ashfield, blamed parliamentary inaction for problems in the system. “When will we stop blaming the French, the EDA [European convention on human rights], the left-wing lawyers?’ asked. “The responsibility is in this place right now. When are we going to go back and do the right thing and send them straight back the same day?” Marco Longhi, the MP for Dudley North, urged ministers to ignore EU laws to quickly deport foreign criminals. “Why, Mr. Minister, are we not protecting our borders and our people?” asked. Scott Benton, the Conservative MP for Blackpool South, asked: “How does my constituents who can’t get an NHS dentist or a GP appointment or a local council think that we spend £2billion a year on hotel bills because we can’t be bothered to solve this issue?’ Minister defends treatment of migrants at Manston processing center – video Jenrick came to the Commons to answer an urgent question about the illegal overcrowding and mistreatment of asylum seekers at the Manston processing center in Kent. He said it is now back below its maximum capacity of 1,600 for the first time in weeks. Last week, the Guardian revealed that some asylum seekers from Manston had been abandoned in central London. Labor MPs urged the government to release details of how many incidents of violence or sexual assault against children had taken place in hotels used to house asylum seekers following revelations last week. Stella Creasy, MP for Walthamstow, said “more cases have come to light” of children allegedly being sexually assaulted in migrant hotels. Jenrick replied “We have put in place a wide range of support mechanisms,” but did not commit to releasing details. Several local authorities have launched legal challenges against the Home Office for transferring asylum seekers to hotels in their areas without prior notice. Jenrick confirmed that from now on MPs and local authorities will receive advance notice from the Home Office before asylum seekers are transferred to their area. Earlier, former Home Secretary Grant Shapps stopped short of saying Suella Braverman had followed legal advice about the treatment of people held at Manston. Shapps, now business secretary, told Sky News he had followed legal advice and ordered the migrants to be moved from Manston. Asked if Braverman had ignored the same legal advice, he said: “It’s hard for me to comment, but I know the advice was very clear to me. I acted on that advice.” Sunak has faced criticism for his decision to reappoint Braverman as interior minister six days after she was fired for breaching security guidelines.
