Reform: We Will Fight to Close Migrant Hotels
Reform UK’s Chairman has promised to use every available tool to prevent asylum seekers being housed in areas where it now controls local councils. The National has more.
Nigel Farage had vowed to “resist” asylum seekers being housed in the county council areas now under Reform control after his party took more than 600 seats and won control of 10 local authorities in Thursday’s polls.
Reform UK Chairman Zia Yusuf, when asked how this would be possible because contracts are drawn up between the Home Office and accommodation providers, said the party would use “every instrument of power available”.
“Judicial reviews, injunctions, there’s planning laws,” he told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme.
“You know, a lot of these hotels – there has been litigation around this already – a lot of these hotels, when you suddenly turn them into something else which is essentially a hostel that falls foul of any number of regulations, and that’s what our teams of lawyers are exploring at the moment.”
He said the party was “realistic” about the fact the levers of change at a local level “pale in comparison” to the powers of Westminster.
“That’s why this is part of a journey to making Nigel the Prime Minister with a Reform majority.”
Mr Yusuf said Reform would be publishing a plan to “deport everybody who is currently in this country illegally” if elected to national government. …
Meanwhile, the new Reform Greater Lincolnshire mayor, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, doubled down on her suggestion that migrants could be housed in tents, saying the UK was “acting like bees to honey by putting people in hotels”.
“This is taxpayers’ money and it should actually be tents, not rent,” the former Tory minister told LBC.
Worth reading in full.
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If they manage it, it will be like the US – the non Reform areas will declare themselves as “sanctuary counties”. With apologies to Still Milo on the LS subreddit for stealing the text of his post: Reform Chairman interviewed on the Laura Kuennsberg show on BBC today. She was apoplectic about his indication that Reform intends to bring legal challenges against the government about the housing of migrants in hotels. For example, he said: “There’s planning laws, you know a lot of these hotels where they have been sent, there has been litigation around this already, a lot of these hotels when you suddenly turn them into something else, which is essentially a hostel, that falls foul of a number of regulations and that’s what our teams avoids are exploring at the moment and we can look at budgets.” Laura was telling him Reform couldn’t do this: “”Can you do that when migrants get sent to go and live in hotels because of contracts between the Home Office and three big providers? So, how were you actually going to do that, because again, we’ve checked this, the break clauses for these contracts are not till 2029, so aren’t you… Read more »
Well like the US – sanctuary counties will then become glutted with “asylum seekers” and the residents will get pizzed-off and then start voting Reform, or the councils will start pressuring central Government to do something about it.
I’m in a potential “sanctuary county” and I’m already pissed off – I hope
my fellow voters wake up!
I’m in a “sanctuary country”, Scotland, although there doesn’t seem to of been a huge influx of economic migrants into Inverness. There has been a huge influx into Glasgow and the SNP council are saying they can’t cope with having to house all of them, it’s leading to social tension and they need help from the UK government. Once migrants are housed in Labour constituencies the penny will drop pretty quickly. Whether or not the government will take any notice is another matter.
Will be interesting to see if Reform stand candidates in the next elections in Scotland, whenever they are.
The hotels need planning permission for change of use; quite separate from contracts. Planning consent requires statutory and public consultations and can involve democratic services. The Government cannot interfere with a Local Authority unless the minister calls it in. Reform does have recourse to certain actions but when it comes to illegal entry normal rules have ceased to exist from day one.
Thanks. I hope they get somewhere, though not sure how it would be a change of use to pay a hotel to have migrants as guests. It’s still a hotel.
I think you’ll find it’s a hostel or refuge with an entirely different planning description and not marketed in a normal commercial way. Planning uses are fairly specific.
That is not my understanding. An acquaintance worked in a hotel in Chelmsford that was full of Afghans for years- I will do some digging and report back
When our local Holiday Inn closed to the public during lockdown it was used as a refuge for immigrants. No application for change of use was submitted but it should have been. The planning rule book has been chucked out along with border controls and Reform is obviously looking into this.
Interesting. I found this which reflects a somewhat inconsistent attitude towards this by the courts: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/is-planning-permission-required-to-house-asylum-seekers-in-hotels/
It is interesting – thanks for the link. The LPAs (local planning authorities) are generally comprised of unelected, highly paid executives with zero accountability and many powers. It is for the LPA to decide most things with lip service paid to elected councillors and this disconnect from democracy is in urgent need of reform. What planning applications do involve is compulsory public consultation; a chance to be heard if not heeded. There’s plenty for Reform’s lawyers and planning professionals to get their teeth into here and let’s hope it’s done with full transparency.
Yes indeed. They will want to avoid a full public consultation at all costs.
An army veteran has spent the last year sleeping on a camp-bed in the lean-to shelter at the memorial gardens just round the corner. The council bolted arm rests along the bench so he can’t sleep on the bench & now sleeps beside it, but has less protection from rain.
Further down the road 200 migrants sleep in, what was, a 4* hotel.
How many are claiming benefits plus working illegally? ” ILLEGAL MIGRANTS flock to BRITAIN for ‘EASY MONEY’ takeaway DELIVERY JOBS Investigation reveals asylum seekers make up to £500 a week working as bike couriers A resident based in a London hotel, which is home to hundreds of male asylum seekers, said “nearly all” the hotel’s inhabitants were working as self-employed couriers One Istanbul-based smuggler said Britain is best because “all you need is a mobile phone and a bike” to make “good money”. Migrants housed in Home Office-funded UK hotels have told how they share bikes and illegal e-bikes, many modified to exceed speed limits, and work for delivery apps as “substitute” riders. Courier accounts are rented out to migrants for between £75 and £100 a week on the black market. In 2023, the Home Office found that two in five delivery drivers stopped during random checks were working illegally.” https://x.com/ActivePatriotUK/status/1919017393256272125 But how many of these fraudsters that are pretending to flee some type of danger/persecution then go back to their country of origin on their jollies? This is happening all over the place, but who’s monitoring it, because it shouldn’t be possible, should it? ”Upon entering iraq, all westerners… Read more »
Who are hiring these ‘substitute couriers’? Perhaps correct employment etc. law enforcement here is needed.
““This is taxpayers’ money and it should actually be tents…”
What’s wrong with open fields? Or paddle back.
Basic food and shelter. Sanitation and soap. Security (mostly from each other). Maybe Freeview TV in communal areas. No mobile phone provision or coverage to help prevent gangs forming. If they’re hankering after the old country maybe give them a ticket.
That said, we can’t even seem to do this for our domestic criminal prisoners. Let alone for asylum seekers.