Labour ‘have one year to shut asylum hotels’ before Reform clobbers them, minister warns
A minister has suggested that Labour has one year to shut hotels for asylum seekers before Reform clobbers them.
Reform UK could ‘clobber’ the Labour Party if immigration is not addressedĀ (Image: Getty)
One minister, whose seatĀ Nigel Farageās party come in second place in at the election, said Labour was not yet getting the āblameā for the small boats crisis but warned āitās still a big issueā.
The minister said the key for the Government would be clearing the asylum backlog, which would allow an end to the practice of using hotels to house asylum seekers.
The minister said: “We need to close asylum hotels. People here are still very much blaming theĀ ToriesĀ but I think we need to close the hotels as soon as possible because itās such an easy target for the far right,ā the minister said.
āI think we have a year. If we donāt then it will help Reform, no doubt.ā
Yvette Cooper ‘must close asylum hotels’Ā (Image: Getty)
But reports last week suggested that Home Office officialsā assumption that it could stop using hotels within a year was over optimistic and that it could take three times longer to empty hotels of asylum seekers because the backlog was taking significantly longer to clear than Labour expected.
Speaking to the i newspaper, the minister said that if it was going to take longer the Government should focus on the āmost visible hotelsā, while also demonstrating fairness in the system, for example by following through on promises that more failed asylum seekers would be returned to their home countries, while delivering on the economy.
They said: āLabour voters want fairness.ā
āMany felt it was unfair that they were struggling while asylum seekers had an āeasy lifeā in hotels with āall bills paidā.
āIf we deliver on improving things for them it wouldnāt be as much of an issue.
āPeople donāt want to smash the system with full bellies and warm houses and a holiday booked to Spain.ā
A Home Office source said it did not ārecogniseā the three-year timescale for clearing the asylum backlog and stressed that asylum decision-making has picked up following a pre-election slump.
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Keir Starmer has a secret plan – and it explains why everything has gone wrong for Labour
At first, it seemed obvious. Starmer was playing exactly the same role that Tony Blair did in the 1990s. His job was to crush the Corbynite left and convince voters it was safe to elect a Labour government again.
And that’s what he did, with impressive ruthlessness. Exactly as Blair had done before him. His reward was sweeping to power in July.
Which is when it all went wrong.
Having made Labour electable again ā albeit with fewer votes than former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn mustered in 2017 ā Starmer has worked flat out to ensure Labour won’t win power for a generation.
In a matter of weeks, Starmer has managed to annoy every single type of voter, whether left, right or somewhere in between.
Labour is now just 1% ahead of the Conservative Party is in the polls, and we know how much the country hates theĀ Tories.
It’s a stunning achievement. He can’t have done this by accident. It must be by design.
Starmer and chancellor Rachel Reeves have enraged pensioners by snatching theirĀ Winter Fuel PaymentĀ and threatening them with every type of tax.
Theyāve frightened the life out of business, stalling the economy in the process.
And they’ve infuriated trade unionists and the Corbynite left, by refusing to axe the two-child benefit cap.
Just to make sure, they’ve besmirched the Labour brand by grabbing every freebie they can.
It’s a chaotic start but I’m beginning to think it’s all part of a brilliantly cunning plan. To discredit the Labour Party and make voters long for theĀ ToriesĀ again.
Think about it.
Starmer and Reeves’ serial ineptitude is making former PMĀ Rishi SunakĀ and chancellorĀ Jeremy HuntĀ look statesmanlike by comparison.
It feels like Keir Starmer has been planted in the Labour Party to destroy itĀ (Image: Getty)
Labour’s woes are distracting the country from the Conservative Party’s leadership campaign. Given the low quality of the candidates, that can only be good for theĀ Tories.
Also, Starmer is clearly a clever man. He’s had a brilliant career. He can’t really be this useless, can he? Of course not.
My theory is that he’s a Tory sleeper agent, planted in Labour to create maximum havoc.
If I’m right, he’s done a stunning job. A few more weeks of this, and Labour will be trailing the Tory party in the polls.
After five years, the country will be gagging to vote for whoever theĀ ToriesĀ install as leader.
And they won’t touch Labour for a generation.
Planting Starmer in the Labour Party was a brilliant move. It’s paying off in spades.
I’m just doubtful about one thing. I can’t quite believe theĀ ToriesĀ are competent enough to have come up with such a brilliant masterplan.
But how else can we explain Starmer? His secret mission is to destroy Labour and he’s done it in record time.
