Business of the House

John Slinger Excerpts

Thursday 4th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

I share the frustration, concern and indeed anger in many parts about the huge use of asylum hotels, and now HMOs, in dealing with the asylum backlog, which was left by the hon. Gentleman’s party after it was in power. Indeed, I remember the shadow Home Secretary and the shadow Justice Secretary going round the country opening these hotels and allowing this to happen. They left us with a huge backlog. We need to take all necessary steps to bring down illegal migration, deal with these issues and close the hotels. That is what we want to do, but as the hon. Gentleman says, we cannot just make the problem dissipate into other parts of the community. That is why we are working to tackle it.

[John Slinger (Rugby) (Lab)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that whereas the leader of Reform, the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage), was yet again in the United States—speaking perhaps a little too freely about freedom of speech in this country, and doing Britain down—this Government, led by the Prime Minister, were building Britain up, including through a very welcome £10 billion deal to supply Norway with five Type 26 frigates? Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating the supply chain that will support it, including BAE Systems in Scotland, which will build the ships, and GE Vernova in Rugby, which will supply the hybrid-electric propulsion systems, meaning quality jobs all across our great country?

[Lucy Powell]

My hon. Friend reminds us that the effects of the huge contract with Norway to build frigates in this country will be dissipated right through our economy and into constituencies such as my hon. Friend’s across the country. We should be celebrating the international agreements that we have, not going abroad and doing this country down.