The government says Home Secretary Suella Braverman prevented migrants from being transferred from short-term holding centres to hotel rooms in order to “speed up” their applications.
According to Environment Minister Mark Spencer, the government is facing “huge challenges” in managing the migrant situation.
Over the weekend, petrol bombs were thrown at a migrant centre in Dover, while MRSA and diphtheria were reported at another one (Manston, see the previous post) amid overcrowding.
Asked about reports Ms Braverman blocked migrants being moved from short-term holding centres to hotels, Mr Spencer said this was done because the home secretary “wants to process them quickly” and make sure only “genuine” asylum seekers are admitted to the UK.
He added that the way to cut down on migrants crossing the channel is to “break the model” of people traffickers.
Meanwhile, Mr Spencer said that Rishi Sunak would go to COP27 “if he’s got time” and that the prime minister has “an inbox which is full to the brim“.