Tory branded ‘Nimby’ in TV clash as he says ‘no one wants’ asylum …
A top Cabinet Minister said "no one would want" an immigration detention centre in their area in a row over the Government plans to move asylum seekers from hotels.[1] Sky News presenter Kay Burley grilled Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on whether he was a "Nimby" (Not in my back yard) after his local council tried to block plans to house asylum seekers on a disused airbase. The Braintree MP publicly opposed the idea of a migrant facility at RAF Wethersfield in Essex when it was shortlisted by the Home Office as a potential site.
Ex-Home Secretary Priti Patel[2], who represents the neighbouring constituency of Witham, is also resisting the idea. It comes as the Home Office scrambles to reduce the number of asylum seekers being housed in hotels while their applications are processed. More than 166,000 people were waiting for a decision on their case at the end of 2022, according to the most recent figures.
Tories believe Channel crossings will INCREASE despite PM's pledge to 'stop the boats'[3]
Kay Burley grilling James Cleverly over the Government's asylum plans
Home Secretary Suella Braverman's hardline Illegal Migration Bill means people who arrive in the UK without permission will not be able to claim asylum.
They will instead be detained in facilities and deported, either to their home country or a third country such as Rwanda. Mr Cleverly told Sky News: "Of course, no-one would want a facility like that in their constituency..." Ms Burley told him: "You're being a bit of a Nimby about it, aren't you?"
He replied: "The point I'm saying is that the legislation we are putting through is to reduce the need for facilities like that." The presenter said: "OK you've told me that, foreign secretary, why do you not want them in your back yard?" Mr Cleverly hit back: "I have concerns about the remoteness of the site and the road network around that.
"The bottom line is if the decision is made that that is where this site needs to be - and it's not a decision for me to make exclusively - but if that is the decision that's made, I want to make sure it works effectively, properly and our wider immigration system is fit for purpose." Home Secretary Suella Braverman[4] is pushing ahead with plans to house asylum seekers on barges and ferries to save cash and dissuade people from arriving in the UK by illegal routes.
The 'Bibby Stockholm' which will be situated in Portland Port in Dorset to accommodate asylum seekers (UK HOME OFFICE/AFP via Getty Ima)
Last month, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said: "We will not elevate the interests of illegal migrants over the British people we are elected to serve. "We have to use alternative accommodation options, as our European neighbours are doing - including the use of barges and ferries to save the British taxpayer money and to prevent the UK becoming a magnet for asylum shoppers in Europe."
The Government says it plans to use the three-storey Bibby Stockholm, docked at Portland Port in Dorset, at a reported cost of GBP20,000 a day. Local Tory MP Richard Drax branded it a "quasi-prison" and said opponents were considering legal action. The Home Office is looking at Liverpool as a potential site for 1,800-person capacity mega-barge, according to The Guardian.
More than 6,000 migrants have been detected crossing the English Channel so far this year, the latest Home Office figures indicated.
Some 246 migrants were spotted in six boats on May 1, taking the total for the year to 6,192.