Tories hit out at ‘gimmick’ plans to house migrants on ferries and barges

Plans to house illegal migrants on barges and ferries face a backlash from senior Tories amid warnings that the use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers would continue to rise regardless.

Conservative MPs hit out at the proposals as a “gimmick” that would do little to reduce the huge accommodation costs met by the taxpayer.

Experts warned that the use of hotels would have to carry on rising despite the announcement, given that arrivals were running at more than 3,000 a month last summer.

Meanwhile, ministers criticised the Government after it announced the opening of three reception centres for asylum seekers at former military bases.

Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, told the Commons that putting up new arrivals in hotels was acting as a “pull factor” for people coming to the UK. He pledged to end their use in favour of “rudimentary accommodation” but admitted that doing so would take time and could not be achieved “overnight”.

Mr Jenrick defended the plans to use vessels, which would have to be docked in ports with access to the land, to house asylum-seekers, saying: “With respect to vessels such as barges or ferries, I do see merit in that. It does provide good value for money and decent accommodation.”

He denied the policy was a gimmick but also admitted that the Government’s plans to crack down on small boat arrivals could ultimately fail. 

“We have to suffuse our entire system with deterrents, and this must include how we house illegal migrants,” he said. “I will not allow the UK to be a soft touch. The public want to see us acting, taking difficult decisions. We will solve this problem and if we fail it will not be for want of trying.”

But the plans got a frosty reception from senior Tories, who warned that vessels would not work and could even prove a worse option than using hotels.

Jackie Doyle-Price, a former business minister, told The Telegraph: “It is more of a gimmick than something that’s going to deliver. It’s a distraction. The Home Office just needs to get its act together and start processing quicker. That’s the only way you’re going to get people out of hotels.”

William Wragg, the Tory MP for Hazel Grove, suggested the idea was “a something must be seen to be done policy”. 

Richard Drax, the MP for South Dorset, where one of the barges could be moored, told the Commons that “land-based reception camps in the right place has to be the solution”. 

He said: “If you look at what’s happened in hotels so far we’ve had all kinds of issues with local residents, disappearing children, sexual assaults. Putting these people on boats or on barges where the problem is going to be exacerbated tenfold is totally and utterly out of the question.”

The Government has held talks with Portland docks, in his constituency, over the possibility of putting asylum seeker accommodation there. Tory-led Dorset Council said it had “serious concerns” about the plans.

Leith port in Edinburgh, where 1,275 Ukrainian refugees are currently living on a cruise ship, is the other a leading contender to host such a facility. Ministers have already entered talks with a ship broker over buying second-hand vessels on the international market, The Telegraph has been told.

On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that government officials warned last year that plans to detain asylum seekers on cruise ships and barges could end up being more expensive than housing them in hotels.

Mr Jenrick also confirmed that the Government will be opening migrant reception centres at two former military bases and a closed training centre. 

Up to 3,700 asylum seekers will be housed across RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, the historic home of the Dambusters, and MDP Wethersfield in Essex.

The immigration minister told MPs he was “confident” that asylum-seekers would start to be moved out of hotels and onto the two sites “in the coming weeks”.

James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, said the decision to go ahead with the latter site, which is in his constituency, “isn’t the result my constituents and I wanted”.

Tory-run West Lindsey District Council announced it was exploring “all legal options, including urgent judicial review proceedings" to block the use of RAF Scampton. 

Refugee Council analysis projected that the asylum crackdown would cause chaos in the system and see the use of hotels almost quadruple. It said the Government would not be able to deport most of the people whose claims it rejects within three years, leaving 192,670 people “in limbo”.

Accommodating them would require the use of 1,493 hotels at a cost of around £20 billion to the taxpayer, it warned.

Enver Solomon, the chief executive, said the announcements on military bases and vessels “do not provide any serious, workable solutions” and “won’t address the challenges of the system”.

Alp Mehmet, the chairman of Migration Watch, said he did not “take seriously” the barge proposals and claimed the Government wanted to “give the impression” it was acting.

“We’re a long way from actually establishing the sort of arrangements that are going to lead to lots of people not having to stay at hotels,” he said. 

The plans were also criticised by industry leaders, who warned that security and safety challenges meant it would be difficult to get them off the ground.

The Association of British Ports said it was approached by the Government but “we are not pursuing these discussions for a range of operational reasons”. Industry sources said very few sites would be willing to host a barge and the numbers they could accommodate would be “very low”.