Asylum seekers and economic migrants will be given “essential living needs and nothing more” as they are housed in “portacabins” and disused barracks under the Government’s hardline and deeply controversial new policy, Home Office minister Robert Jenrick announced on Wednesday.
The move threatens to tear up Britain’s reputation for offering a safe haven to people fleeing persecution.
But Mr Jenrick defended it as vital to tackle the “small boats” Channel crisis.
He said two military bases in Essex and Lincolnshire would be used, as well as a site in East Sussex, to house thousands of people who have come to Britain on “small boats”.
The Government would “explore” the possible use of giant barges or ships as other accommodation, he added.
He spoke in the Commons after Dominic Raab and Angela Rayner clashed over the Tories record on crime at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday lunchtime.
Deputy Labour leader Ms Rayner said “women feel unsafe” and on his watch rapists have been “left to roam the streets of Britain.”
She blamed Deputy Prime Minister Mr Raab for the backlog of court cases in the criminal justice system.
The deputies were filling in for Prime Rishi Sunak at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday lunchtime - as the Prime Minister and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer attend the funeral of late Commons Speaker Baroness Betty Boothroyd.
