Labour Faces Setback as Asylum Hotel Numbers Rise Despite Pledge

Shiva K Dhakal | www.uknepalpress.com |
National Press Corporation (NPC), UK

Labour is facing mounting pressure over its key election pledge to end the use of asylum hotels, after new figures revealed an increase in the number of migrants being housed in temporary accommodation.

According to data released by the Home Office, 32,059 asylum seekers are currently being accommodated in hotels across the UK — an 8% rise on last year’s figure of 29,585. Around 210 hotels are believed to be in use, broadly similar to when Labour came to power, though significantly down from the peak of more than 400 under the Conservatives.

The figures come 13 months after Labour’s manifesto promised to “end asylum hotels, saving the taxpayer billions of pounds.”

Adding to the government’s challenge, asylum applications in the year to June surged to a record 111,084, driven by a sharp rise in small boat crossings.

Opposition parties were quick to seize on the statistics. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp accused Labour of “losing control of Britain’s borders,” while Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the record number of claims would cost taxpayers “a huge sum of money” and warned the public was “right to be angry with both Labour and the Tories.”

Ministers, however, pointed to signs of progress. The asylum backlog has fallen to 90,812 — the first time in four years it has dropped below 100,000 — following a 30% increase in removals of failed applicants and an 18% reduction in pending cases.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper defended the government’s approach, saying: “The action we have taken in the last 12 months – increasing returns of failed asylum seekers, cutting asylum costs, reducing the backlog and reforming the appeals system – are crucial steps to restoring order and ending the chaotic use of asylum hotels we inherited.”

A YouGov poll suggests the public places greater blame on the Conservatives (28%) than Labour (19%) for the continued reliance on hotels. But with asylum applications at record highs, Labour faces a difficult task in fulfilling its pledge to phase them out before the next election.