Hale asylum seekers: MP criticises hotel plan for village

Plans to house about 100 asylum seekers in a hotel in the centre of a village have been criticised by the area’s MP.

Sir Graham Brady, who represents Altrincham and Sale West, said Hale would be the “worst possible place” to accommodate the group of young men.

He said he had called for an urgent meeting with the Home Secretary.

The Home Office said the use of hotels was “a temporary solution” and it was “working hard with local authorities to find appropriate accommodation”.

Conservative Mr Brady said he first heard about the government’s plans in November.

He said the government had identified a hotel in the village, which the BBC has decided not to name for safety reasons, as a potential location.

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“I think it’s the worst possible place to house a very large number of young men who are by definition, because they are not allowed to work, unemployed,” he said.

“I met with a senior official from the Home Office three days before Christmas and communicated that.”

Mr Brady was among those who gathered at St Peter’s Assembly Rooms earlier to discuss their concerns.

But Tim Naor Hilton, chief executive of Refugee Action, told BBC North West Tonight that “the majority of people who get refugee status end up staying in our communities”.

“They become our work colleagues, their children become our own children’s classmates,” he said.

A Home Office spokesman said: “The number of people arriving in the UK who require accommodation has reached record levels and has put our asylum system under incredible strain.

“The use of hotels to house asylum seekers is unacceptable – there are currently more than 37,000 asylum seekers in hotels costing the UK taxpayer £5.6m a day.”