Transport minister Richard Holden said he wants to see so-called ‘floatels’ in ports around the country.
The Government plans to house migrants on barges in ports all over the country, according to transport minister Richard Holden.
Commenting on a deal to house 500 migrants on a barge off the Dorset coast, he told GB News: “What we need to do is try and tackle the asylum backlog as quickly as we can and this is I think, the first step in that direction.
“I hope we see more of these across the country and also the use of some of those military bases, as well.
“I think what we want to do is tackle that backlog, stop people crossing the Channel, stop providing some of those pull factors.
“I’m really glad that this is one of the Prime Minister’s top five priorities is tackling the small boats, stopping the boats, and I think this is a really important step in that direction.”
In a discussion with Ellie Costello and Martin Daubney, he said: “This is just the start of a process. So I’ve spoken to the immigration minister about this before, we’re looking at doing these in other ports right across the country as well.
“Anybody calling it inhumane needs to actually look at what’s happened in Scotland over the last few years where the Scottish Government have been housing some of their Ukrainian refugees in some of these boats while they await processing in Scotland as well.
“So I think that’s total nonsense. What I want to see though, is the asylum backlog reduced, I want to see people out of hotels, and I want to see the situation dealt with.”
He added: “That’s exactly what my constituents want and that’s what the Government’s doing, because we’re going to deliver on that promise to stop the boats.
“One of the key things to do that is to stop the pull factors here to the UK. I don’t want to see local communities right across the country having people put into the hotel accommodation locally and to see as many of these self-contained votes or barges or these military bases as possible, so that local services can be maintained for local people.”
Source: GB News
