BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty repeatedly challenged Defence Minister Luke Pollard over the cost of a planned asylum accommodation facility at a former MoD site in Oxfordshire, during Friday's edition of the programme.
The discussion centred on proposals to house up to 1,256 men at the MoD Bicester site near the village of Piddington. Housing Secretary Angela Rayner granted planning permission for the accommodation after the Home Office used a fast-track procedure for schemes considered urgently required and of national significance.
Government Plans to Close Asylum Hotels
Mr Pollard, MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, appeared via video link to outline the government's strategy for reducing the number of asylum seekers currently accommodated in hotels. He said: "So we're proceeding with this MOD site at Bicester as part of our efforts to close asylum hotels. So we made a commitment at the general election to close asylum hotels, all of them."
He added: "We have roughly closed half of them that we inherited from the last government, but to move to the closure faster, and to close more of them, the Ministry of Defence has been asked to look at what surplus military sites we have that could support that Home Office effort as part of a whole government activity."
Mr Pollard explained that Crowborough barracks in Southern England had already been transferred to the Home Office, and that a portion of the MoD Bicester site had been requested for temporary asylum accommodation.
Cost Questions and Viewer Reactions
Naga highlighted that Tim McNally, chair of Piddington Parish Council, had told BBC Breakfast that housing asylum seekers in hotels is "cheaper by half". She pressed Mr Pollard on whether the business case for the site had been disclosed, asking: "Is it cheaper to use these facilities rather than have asylum hotels?"
Mr Pollard responded that the government had saved "roughly £1 billion in closing hotels so far", but added that the precise cost calculation depends on usage duration and other factors he did not have figures for. When Naga asked directly whether it is cheaper to house an asylum seeker in a hotel or in one of these facilities, he replied: "It depends on which hotel, how long they're in for, and it also depends on the billed costs of the temporary accommodation sites."
He stressed that "there is no easy way to close asylum hotels", noting efforts to bring down the asylum backlog and work with France, Germany and the Netherlands. Naga responded: "I do hope that in the very near future you would have those figures; it's quite an obvious question to ask when it comes to costs."
Viewers reacted on X, with one posting "He's rattled. #bbcbreakfast" and another commenting on the use of MOD land, while one said "That's enough, I've got a headache #bbcbreakfast."
