Rishi Sunak could go to Cop27 climate summit, minister Mark Spencer says
The desperate conditions at a Kent asylum seeker centre may have been caused by a “deliberate” government decision not to find hotel space, a Conservative MP said.
Sir Roger Gale accused his own government of “dog whistle politics”, suggesting the Home Office saw an opportunity to make the UK look like an unattractive destination for refugees.
Around 4,000 asylum seekers are now crammed into the site at Manston – which is designed for 1,600 people – in dire living conditions, with outbreaks of diseases including diphtheria and MRSA.
Sir Roger said a decision was taken not to book hotel rooms to house additional migrants in, though he did not know whether it was taken by Suella Braverman or her predecessor Priti Patel.
Ms Braverman is under pressure to answer questions in the Commons about the crisis in Kent, after a separate processing centre in Dover was petrol bombed by a man who then killed himself.
However, she is expected to remain in effective hiding – amid controversy over her breaching of the ministerial code – and send her deputy, Robert Jenrick, instead.
