A top Tory has called on Brits to open up their homes to asylum-seekers who cross the channel in a desperate bid to address the eye-watering cost of housing them at the taxpayer’s expense.
Brandon Lewis has backed a new report from the prominent think tank Policy Exchange, which says the “galvanisation of voluntary spirit” could drive down the £2.2 billion annual cost of housing migrants in hotels and barges.
The report cites the generosity shown by Brits towards Ukrainian refugees as an example of Brits’ willingness to open their homes to those fleeing into the country.
Policy Exchange says the current asylum system is “not only too expensive but also too statist”.
It says such a policy would also allow wealthy, metropolitan progressive Brits to put their money where their mouth is, and stop dumping migrants into hotels in poorer areas.
“The key to better sharing the load with wealthier parts of ‘progressive liberal Britain’ – relatively pro-refugee areas which tend to have higher housing costs – is galvanising voluntary spirit.”
It adds that settled British migrants from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Syria could also aid the rehoming of asylum seekers with their “specific cultural assets”.
The report reveals the total annual cost of asylum-related spending is now £3.5 billion, including hotel accommodation, allowances, healthcare and school places.
The central estimate of hotel costs alone is £2.2 billion a year – exceeding the Government’s levelling-up budget, and three times the Government’s investment in tackling homelessness.
The paper calls for the Government to prioritise women and children refugees, though notes that almost two-thirds of those crossing the Channel in 2022 were men aged 18-39.
That figure includes 683 Indian nationals and 12,301 Albanians in the year 2021/22.
Brandon Lewis, a former Cabinet Minister of many years, says in his forward that the current numbers coming over “cannot be right”.
“Should our generosity and humanitarian spirit be directed towards healthy young men from safe countries illegally crossing the Channel?
“I think most of us know the answer to that question.”
Mr Lewis says it is “vital” that the Government’s Illegal Migrant Bill isn’t “watered down” if the country hopes to deal with the crisis.
The Government last night offered concessions on some of the Bill’s most controversial elements.
The Home Office is set to drop an attempt to create powers to detain pregnant women for as long as they like, reverting to the current 72-hour bar.
It will also limit the time they can detain unaccompanied children migrants without bail to just eight days.
The Government is also pursuing a compromise that will allow 10,000 migrants who came to Britain before the passing of the bill to avoid deportation to Rwanda.
