Bicker Bar hotel is ‘bad choice’ for asylum seekers
An MP has questioned the ‘wholly inappropriate’ use of a village hotel to accommodate asylum seekers.
More than 100 asylum seekers are currently living in the Supreme Inn in Bicker Bar - having moved in on August 24.
MP for Boston and Skegness Matt Warman says that while he agrees the Government has a duty to house people arriving in the UK, he feels the location, which is remote and removed from facilities, is ‘a particularly bad choice.’
He said: “When people do arrive, we have a duty to house them while their claims for asylum are processed, and today that necessitates the use of hotels up and down the country while the Government builds large processing centres.”
Mr Warman says the commercial decision made by hotels to house refugees leads to ‘increasingly inappropriate’ locations being used, including the Supreme Inn.
He said: “The Supreme Inn, under its new owners, is the latest hotel to agree to be used for asylum seekers. Its remote location makes it in my view, as I described it to the immigration minister, wholly inappropriate.
“While I have been reassured that all possible welfare and security measures are in place, I will continue to raise the fact that this venue is a particularly bad choice.
“I appreciate its use may be necessitated by the availability of rooms across the UK, and it also underlines that the issue of immigration is one that the new Prime Minister will need to grip immediately on taking office, so that hotels such as the Supreme are no longer required. We must do all we can to deter illegal migration so that we can focus British resources on those refugees who need it most.
“I will of course work with all local agencies who are affected by this decision to make sure resources are available where needed.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “The Home Office does not comment on operational arrangements for individual hotels. We are dealing with an unprecedented increase in asylum cases but despite this we continue to ensure that the accommodation provided is safe, secure and leaves no one destitute.”
