In a blistering retort to government accusations, the Labour Party has vehemently denied any responsibility for the UK's sprawling and costly asylum hotel crisis, branding the claims as a 'desperate attempt to rewrite history'.
The political firestorm ignited after Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick appeared to point the finger at the previous Labour government for the current backlog. Labour's Shadow Immigration Minister, Stephen Kinnock, swiftly countered these allegations in a sharply-worded letter to his counterpart.
The Real Cost of Chaos
Kinnock's rebuttal laid bare the staggering financial toll of the Conservative government's approach, highlighting that a jaw-dropping £8 million a day is being spent housing asylum seekers in hotels. He attributed this exorbitant cost directly to a system buckling under 'chaos, incompetence and failure'.
The letter emphasised that the number of asylum seekers in hotel accommodation has skyrocketed under the current administration, a direct result of a collapsed decision-making system and the record-breaking backlog of cases.
A System in Disarray
Labour's defence pinpointed several key failures:
- The dismantling of a dedicated unit for assessing claims from Afghanistan.
- The disastrous Rwanda scheme, which has cost hundreds of millions without a single flight taking off.
- A record-high backlog of asylum cases, leaving tens of thousands in limbo.
'The truth is that your government’s failures have created this problem,' Kinnock stated, accusing ministers of seeking anyone but themselves to blame for the monumental mess.
Cleverly Enters the Fray
The war of words escalated further when new Home Secretary James Cleverly, during his first committee hearing, also seemed to lay the groundwork for blaming Labour. This suggests a coordinated government strategy to deflect criticism onto the opposition for a crisis that has festered on their watch.
This political row underscores the intensely fraught battle over immigration policy, with hotel usage becoming a potent symbol of a system perceived by many as broken and unbearably expensive for taxpayers.
