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'We got it wrong on asylum hotels,' admits top Tory
Sep 3, 2025
The last Conservative government "got it wrong" on using hotels to house asylum seekers, a Tory shadow minister has admitted to LBC's Tom Swarbrick. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp denied the party was being hypocritical after leader Kemi Badenoch called for more Conservative councils to launch legal challenges over asylum hotels. Her words came after Epping Forest District Council secured a temporary injunction from the High Court, blocking the use of the Essex town's Bell Hotel as accommodation for asylum seekers on planning grounds. Ms Badenoch's comments come despite the fact that the growing reliance on hotels to house asylum seekers started in 2019 under the Tories' rule. Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp #tomswarbrick #LBC #asylumhotels #ukpolitics #keirstarmer #migrationdebate #conservatives #politicalnews #lbc #labour #chrisphilp #uknews LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK. Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/ Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signup
View Video Transcript
0:00
But let's pick up on that story with Chris Philp, the Shadow Home Secretary and Conservative MP for South Croydon
0:04
Thank you for coming on the programme, Mr Philp. Is the use of hotels to house asylum seekers wrong, sir
0:11
Well, I think overall it is wrong because it's costing a lot of money and it's, you know, taking these hotels out of action
0:20
Let's remind ourselves why they're being used in the first place. It's because illegal immigrants are crossing the channel, then claiming asylum
0:28
So the way to fix this, really, is to stop the problem at source and stop the crossings
0:33
which, in my view, means deporting everybody who arrives illegally immediately that they get here
0:41
either to their country of origin, if possible, or a safe third country, if not
0:45
And then pretty soon, people will stop bothering to attempt the crossings in the first place
0:50
If it's wrong to use hotels to house asylum seekers, Why did you as a Home Office Minister sanction the use of the Bell Hotel in Epping as one of the hotels to be used
1:00
Yeah, you're going back five or so years now, and it was used as an emergency measure
1:04
but we then in government, the Conservatives, rightly decided to stop using that hotel for the reasons I've just mentioned
1:11
You approved the use of the Parkin Hotel in Glasgow. 400 asylum seekers moved into that hotel. Was that the wrong thing
1:17
Well, to be clear, I didn't personally approve those. You defended that decision
1:21
But hotels were used previously. So was that wrong? Well, the last government decided that it was wrong to use hotels
1:29
and that is why it instituted a policy of reducing them. Now, that started a couple of years, or two or three years ago
1:35
Hotel numbers were steadily reducing under the last government. In fact, about 200 hotels were closed down by the last government
1:43
in the run-up to the last, in the sort of year or so before the last election
1:47
And had that rate of closure continued, by now there would be no hotels at all
1:53
But unfortunately, the Labour government after the election did not continue with that programme of hotel closures
2:00
And in fact, in the nine months after the election, the number of illegal immigrants claiming asylum in these hotels actually went up by about 3,000
2:09
Because the Labour government did not continue the policy of closing those hotels down
2:13
So the last Tory government decided it was wrong. previous Tory governments didn't decide that because hotel accommodation increased absolutely
2:20
it exploded there were 56,000 people in 2023 late 2023 still housed in hotels
2:25
so presumably you would say that former Tory governments in which you served got that wrong yeah there should not have been 56 people in hotels and that is why subsequent to that very robust action was taken to reduce those numbers which worked
2:40
The numbers halved subsequent to that, and had that continued... ...to decide it was wrong, Mr. Smith
2:46
Why did it take so many years to decide that this was the wrong thing to do? Well, you'd have to ask the people that were in charge at the time
2:53
That was after my time as Immigration Minister. But a decision was taken to reduce the numbers
2:58
that worked and the numbers were halved but unfortunately since labour came to office
3:02
that trend has not continued and in fact the numbers in hotels in the nine months after they
3:08
came to office actually went up but let's remind ourselves why it's happening it's happening because
3:13
illegal immigrants are crossing the channel in record ever numbers since the election the numbers
3:19
have surged this year so far has been the worst ever the worst in history for illegal immigrants
3:24
crossing the channel. So far, this year so far, that's right. And indeed, the period since the
3:29
election has also been the worst such period in history. And one of the reasons for that is that
3:34
Labour cancelled the Rwanda deterrent before it even started with no replacement. Instead
3:40
they said, oh, we're going to smash the gangs. Well, that's now descended into a sort of laughable
3:44
farce. Now they're saying they're going to send 50 people a week to France. Well, I mean, that's
3:48
not going to make any difference at all. The way you stop the boats coming in the first place
3:52
which really will fix the problem at source, is to say anyone that arrives illegally across the channel
3:58
will get immediately removed, either back to their country of origin, if possible
4:02
or to a safe third country, if not. And then if you're in France and you know
4:07
if you cross the channel, you're going to wind up being immediately removed, I mean, common sense tells you people are going to not bother to..
4:12
You're less likely to do that, Joan. The deal that the Labour government is trying to institute with France
4:18
because France were implacably opposed to a returns agreement, particularly under the Conservative government
4:22
when you reduced hotel accommodation which is true when you reduced those numbers halved it
4:28
where did those people go well some of those uh you have to sort of track the data but some of
4:33
those people uh would have been uh granted uh asylum uh some of those people would have been
4:38
denied asylum and then removed from the country um but just hardly any got removed from the country
4:45
mr phil very very few people got removed you you substituted hotels with houses of multiple
4:50
occupancy? You just put them in flats. Well, as I say, if someone's asylum claim is denied
4:56
and we tightened up the rules, actually, to make it harder to get asylum, rightly... You stop processing claims. The Rwanda plan meant that there were no claims processed
5:03
after a particular date You stop bothering Well so there was work being done to prepare for the Rwanda plan That is exactly right Now I think it was a catastrophic mistake by the Labour government to cancel that Rwanda plan just a few days before it was due to start
5:19
It's the height of hypocrisy, isn't it? It's the absolute height of hypocrisy to say, oh, well, they're not closing down the hotels
5:24
When you put people into hotels, the Conservative government over many years put thousands of people into hotels
5:30
you stopped processing claims, moved people out of hotels and stuck them in HMOs
5:33
No, I've already explained that people whose asylum claims were denied would have been removed from the country
5:37
And I've also, I'll say it again, I'll repeat the point. In the last nine months of the last Conservative government, the numbers in asylum hotels halved
5:46
They went down by 200 hotels. And had the Labour government continued that after the election, there wouldn't be any hotels at all now
5:52
But look, I'm going to repeat the fundamental point, which is that we need to stop these illegal crossings completely
5:58
The Rwanda deterrent would have done that. Something very similar worked in Australia about 12 years ago
6:04
Actually, the Americans in the last six months have done something quite similar on their southern border
6:09
It was a huge mistake of Labour to cancel that deterrent before it started, just before it started, without any replacement
6:15
That is why numbers this year are the worst, so far this year, are the worst in history
6:20
And that is why we've got a border crisis under Labour. When Kemi Badenock, your leader, tells her councillors, Conservative councillors, to take legal action against the government for those hotels in order to, quote, protect your community, who from
6:34
Well, I think there are concerns which Epping Council articulated in their legal action, that putting hundreds of young men into the middle of a small community can have quite significant impacts
6:48
We've also seen reporting by various newspapers who have looked through court records showing that hundreds and hundreds of people living in these asylum hotels, who are almost entirely young men, by the way, have been charged with various criminal offences
7:02
And that is of concern to local councils and it's of concern to the public as well
7:07
But to get to the heart of this, to really stop this problem happening, you've got to stop the crossings
7:12
And that is why Labour have made such a big mistake by allowing these crossings to reach record ever levels this year
7:19
They have a border crisis, which is turning into a public security or public safety crisis as well
7:25
The protect your community line, though, might appear to some as to cast aspersions on absolutely everybody who crosses and claims asylum, that they are all somehow a threat
7:36
Well I don think that is the insinuation although of course everybody who crossed the channel has done so illegally because it is illegal to enter the UK in that way because they leaving from a safe country France right There not a war going on in France Well they got to have their asylum claim processed first in order to determine whether or not they here illegally
7:53
No, that's not true, actually. Entering the country without leave is a criminal offence, contrary to Section 24 of the Immigration Act 1971
8:00
There is a protection if you're coming directly from a place of danger
8:05
but I think you would agree France is not a place of danger. There's no war going on in France
8:09
There's no legal requirement, though, to claim asylum in the first safe country they come to. No, but you are allowed to impose penalties, including criminal penalties
8:17
on people who enter a country illegally if they're not coming directly from a place of danger
8:22
So it is right to describe everyone crossing the Channel as having entered illegally
8:27
That's quite an important point. So what did the Tories do about that? Well, we first of all got the numbers down by a third in 2023
8:34
and we had the Rwanda plan ready to go. If they were here illegally anyway before Rwanda Plan
8:40
why didn't you arrest them? The point I'm making is that the Rwanda Plan
8:46
or something similar to it, where everybody who arrives gets immediately removed
8:50
will act as a deterrent that would stop people arriving. Yes, but if it was the case they were coming in illegally, you didn't do anything about it until you dreamt up the Rwanda Plan
8:56
which was only pretty recently towards the back end of a Conservative government. Well, we did get the numbers down by a third in 2023
9:04
You didn't do anything about it. You said they're here illegally. Well, I've just said, we got the numbers down by a third
9:08
And I think hundreds of people were prosecuted for facilitating illegal immigration
9:13
They were prosecuted. The National Crime Agency, I think, had some of their top operations directed against people smuggling organisations, which is illegal as well
9:23
That's illegal as well. But the main point is we stop this happening in the first place by preventing the illegal crossings
9:29
The only way to do that is by making sure that the crossings are pointless
9:33
I've said it already. I'll say it again. by making sure everybody who arrives gets immediately removed
9:38
and then nobody will bother attempting the crossing. You mentioned the government's deal with France
9:42
which is their latest gimmick, just like the smash the gangs gimmick a year ago, which you don't hear them talk about anymore
9:47
Now, sending 50 people a week to France, which amounts to about 6% of arrivals
9:52
is obviously no deterrent because by implication, 94% of people can stay
9:57
And the difference with, you know, the Rwanda scheme by contrast or something like it would have seen 100
10:02
or very close to 100% of people being removed. We tabled a plan again like that in Parliament a few weeks ago
10:09
but Labour voted against it. And their weakness on this is why they've lost control of the borders
10:14
and why this year so far has been the worst year in history for illegal crossings
10:18
Labour is presiding over a borders crisis
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