Keir Starmer calls urgent meeting to tackle asylum hotel closures

Keir Starmer will chair a meeting of ministers this afternoon on going "further and faster" to tackle illegal migration.

No10 said speeding up migrant hotel closures will be on the agenda, a day after the PM pledged to do so. Mr Starmer, revealed he wants to close them before his existing 2029 deadline, saying he understands public anger. In an interview with the BBC Mr Starmer lashed out at Reform leader Nigel Farage, who he accused of peddling "unworkable, fanciful ideas".

The PM's official spokesman said he had told senior ministers it is "easy to understand the frustration people feel at the level of illegal crossings and the site of asylum hotels in their communities".

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He continued: "He will be chairing a ministerial meeting later today to consider how we can go further and faster to combat illegal crossings. This includes continuing to work with the French authorities, cracking down on pull factors and illegal working, including exploring options around digital ID, accelerating the closure of hotels and looking at better forms of accommodation, and driving further progress returning people with no right to be here."

Pressed on his plans to close asylum hotels on Monday, the PM said: "Well, we've said we'll get rid of them by the end of the Parliament. I would like to bring that forward, I think it is a good challenge."

And Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said this morning the Government believes the closures can happen sooner. She said: "Our manifesto commitment was to do so over the course of the Parliament, but we do want that to be earlier, and we've been working for some time. We do believe it can be done earlier. It's dependent on a whole series of factors, so we're not setting out precise timetables. What we are doing is setting out the steps that we are taking."

Latest figures show there were over 32,000 asylum seekers being accommodated in hotels at the end of June - down from over 56,000 under the Tories. The Government is under growing pressure to close hotels, with a string of ugly clashes outside venues in recent weeks.

Mr Starmer said Reform, which has been vocal on migration, "feed on grievance" about migration, adding "they've got no reason to exist" if the problem is solved.

Last week, the Government successfully appealed for the Bell Hotel in Epping to continue housing asylum seekers, overturning a bombshell High Court order saying it must shut.

Ms Cooper said the estimated 200 hotels currently being used must not be closed "in a chaotic way". In an address to MPs, she announced those granted refugee status will no longer be able to apply to bring family members to the UK.

Last year there were over 21,000 such applications - up from 8,900 in 2022/23, with numbers expected to go up still further. Ms Cooper claimed some claims were being lodged before asylum seekers even leave Home Office accommodation.

She said that the first wave of small boat arrivals returned to France under a new 'one in, one out' deal reached over the summer will start this month.

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