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.
The plans are likely to be controversial, with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly having already criticised suggestions a base in his Essex constituency would be used. Sources also downplayed the likelihood of barges and ferries being used imminently, saying none had been purchased yet.
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.
