Rishi Sunak told to get ‘grip of crisis’ as homeless were removed from hotel for migrants
Rishi Sunak has been urged to “get a grip” of the migrant crisis after a Freedom of Information request revealed that eight homeless people were removed from temporary accommodation to make room for migrants. The FOI request was made by the TaxPayers’ Alliance in November 2022 to Crawley Borough Council.
The request questioned how many homeless people were “evicted from accommodation within the council’s remit in order to make way for migrants and asylum seekers”.
Crawley Borough Council responded to the request by saying: “Eight individuals were unable to remain in their temporary accommodation funded by the Council due to the hotel closing to public and corporate bookings and moving to an exclusive use contract for a Government client.”
The council did confirm that the eight individuals were found alternative accommodation to stay in.
The TaxPayers’ Alliance chief executive John O’Connell said: “Brits will be appalled that migrants have been prioritised over the homeless.
“This demonstrates the complete failure of this Government to get a grip of this crisis.
“The Prime Minister must ensure that his plans announced this week achieve results quickly.”
In his efforts to tackle the migrant crisis, the Prime Minister has unveiled a five-point illegal immigration plan.
The plan, which was revealed last week, was constructed to address Government figures that showed that over a third of people who crossed the Channel in the first nine months of the year were from Albania.
Speaking to the Commons, Mr Sunak said that “enough is enough” and the current system is “not fair”.
Over 44,700 people have arrived on British shores by crossing the Channel in unsafe boats so far this year.
The plan will see a small boats command, a renewed focus on enforcement, the end of using hotels for asylum seekers, employing more caseworkers.
It will also see Albania be declared a ‘safe country’.
Mr Sunak also held a meeting with ex-Prime Minister Theresa May in an attempt to get her support for rewriting her Modern Slavery Act 2015 in order to block a loophole which allows migrants to stay in the UK.
The Modern Slavery Act was brought in by Mrs May to help those living in domestic servitude or who had been sex trafficked to the UK, which was estimated to be 10,000 in 2015.
It has since been found that migrants are using these laws to block their deportation from the UK.
A source told the Daily Mail: “Rishi asked Theresa to help to protect her legacy by restricting the abuse of the laws.
“Theresa made clear that she wouldn’t accept any change which watered down the vital protections.”
