This afternoon, Windsor MP Jack Rankin pressed Angela Eagle, Minister for Border Security and Asylum after the Conservative Party tabled an urgent question on the recommencement of the use of hotels as accommodation for asylum seekers and illegal economic migrants.
Jack wrote to the Home Secretary immediately after being notified about The Manor Hotel in Datchet being misused in this way, to express his deep concern at the premise of housing “single adult males” in the centre of the small village, and the severe lack of notice given to local people.
Progress had been made but this is a backward step; The Manor Hotel had been opened back to the public under the previous Conservative government. However, following a 66% increase in channel crossings since the general election, the Labour government have broken their election pledge that they would not use hotels for accommodation, and closed the Datchet hotel to be used for migrants.
In the response letter (attached) to Jack, received yesterday, Angela Eagle stated that:
“There are currently 65 individuals accommodated at the hotel and it is anticipated that numbers will not exceed 85.”
As reported in the Daily Mail over the weekend, businesses in the village are feeling the knock-on effects of The Manor Hotel’s closure on their income from tourists using the hotel. In her response letter, the Home Office Minister described the situation as “not ideal”.
When pressed by Jack on the timeframe that residents in the village of Datchet can expect the hotel to be occupied in the House of Commons chamber today, the Minister gave a one-line response, flatly refusing to address the concerns of residents, and failed give details of the re-opening of The Manor Hotel in Datchet, leaving local residents in the dark.
In his question this afternoon, Jack asked:
“Yesterday the Minister finally replied to my letter, after my Datchet constituents were given next to no notice about single adult males being housed at The Manor Hotel.
“She said the numbers housed there could reach as high as 85, and gave no indication for how long they would be there – in breach of her manifesto commitments.
“Can she now give my constituents in Datchet a concrete timetable for when the misuse of The Manor Hotel will come to an end.”
Replying, Angela Eagle, Minister for Border Security and Asylum said:
“Our manifesto commitment wasn’t to close hotels within four months of being elected.”
