Robert Jenrick is due to announce the use of two RAF sites
Asylum seekers will be housed in disused military bases, ferries and barges under Government plans to reduce the spending on hotels. Immigration minister Robert Jenrick will announce the use of two RAF sites on Wednesday as he tries to reduce the £6.8 million a day the Government says it spends on hotel accommodation.
Mr Jenrick, the Conservative MP for Newark, will announce that people who arrive in the UK after making Channel crossings on small boats will be housed at RAF Wethersfield and RAF Scampton. Conservative former minister Sir Edward Leigh has previously criticised the use of Scampton, the former home of the Dambusters which sits in his Lincolnshire constituency.A Government source said there is a “direction of travel” towards using ferries and barges as well but said “nothing has been bought”.
Appearing before the Commons Liaison Committee, he also downplayed suggestions that flights under the Government’s stalled Rwanda policy would begin this summer. Mr Cleverly was critical after reports first surfaced that RAF Wethersfield, near Braintree, could be used to accommodate asylum seekers. Sir Edward, the MP for Gainsborough, raised concerns about the use of Scampton, after a deal was struck to use it as part of a £300 million regeneration project for the area.
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