"Downing Street has defended the prospect of paying more to house asylum seekers in disused barracks instead of hotels, arguing that quelling public disquiet was worth any extra cost. As refugee organisations and local politicians described plans to house tens of thousands of people in ex-military sites as fanciful and too expensive, No 10 said that communities don't want asylum seekers housed in hotels, and neither does the government."
"The costs will vary site by site, but our priorities are security and fairness. This is an issue of public confidence. We know that communities don't want asylum seekers housed in hotels, and neither does the government, and that's why we are determined to fix the mess that we've inherited by getting a grip of the issue and committing to close every single asylum hotel, saving the taxpayer billions of pounds."
Downing Street defended plans to pay more to house asylum seekers in disused military barracks rather than hotels, saying quelling public disquiet justified higher costs. The Home Office confirmed plans to use Cameron barracks in Inverness and Crowborough training camp in East Sussex to house 900 male asylum seekers from next month. Officials said these would be the first of as many as 10,000 people the Home Office hopes to place on military sites while working with the Ministry of Defence to identify further disused sites. Protests against using hotels occurred across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Downing Street said security, fairness and public confidence drive the decision and pledged to close asylum hotels to save taxpayer money.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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