Asylum Hotels and Illegal Channel Crossings Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Home Office
Luke Myer
Main Page: Luke Myer (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)Department Debates - View all Luke Myer's debates with the Home Office
Asylum Hotels and Illegal Channel Crossings
Luke Myer Excerpts(1 week ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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Dame Angela Eagle
I do not think that safe routes would stop people trying to get into this country clandestinely. It is important that we can assert control at the border so that we decide who comes into our country, not the people-smuggling gangs.
Luke Myer (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)
When I speak to my constituents, they accept that the last Government overspent by billions on the asylum system and it fell to this Government to make the difficult decisions to settle the bill. What they cannot accept is that it is fair for taxpayers to continue to be expected to spend £9 million a day on asylum hotels. That was a mark of shame for the last Government, and it may become one for us unless it is resolved. What steps will the Minister take to speed up processing, increase returns and end the use of hotels for good?
Dame Angela Eagle
We have restarted asylum processing, and we are looking into what we can do to speed up the appeals backlog that we inherited. We will create a system that is faster, firmer and fairer so that we can get people out of asylum hotels, which are not a sustainable model for the future.