Anybody who doesn’t believe immigration will be a top priority for voters at this year's General Election need only spend a few hours outside central London for a reality check.
The Tories know this – Rishi has splashed ‘Stop the Boats’ all over his lectern to show how serious he is – but it may well be far, far too late.
Last week I visited Farnborough, just outside the M25. It has a population of just under 60,000, and in 2021 was declared one of the top ten 'property supply shortage hotspots' by Rightmove.
Yet in the last few weeks, the Home Office quietly took over an entire multi-million-pound apartment complex to house what was expected to be around 300 asylum seekers from the end of the month.
The one, two and three bedroom flats, worth £1,400PCM each, were taken off the market indefinitely at the start of the year, with residents in the adjacent building only informed after the Home Office had already made up its mind.
Despite the Conservative-led Rushmoor Borough Council’s objections, it was seemingly too late. “The Home Office is the Home Office," as one Councillor put it.
A Home Office spokesperson sent GB News a boilerplate comment: “We have always been upfront about the unprecedented pressure being put on our asylum system, brought about by a significant increase in dangerous and illegal journeys into the country over recent years.
“We continue to work across Government and with local authorities to identify a range of accommodation options to reduce the unacceptable use of hotels which cost £8million a day.”
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In this case, the best option appeared to be snatching hundreds of brand-new apartments without really telling anybody; an inevitable consequence of seeing net migration rise to over 700,000 a year while building around 200,000 houses. It is a problem of their own making.
Furniture and bedding had already arrived at the premises when we arrived. The residents in the nearby apartment block were furious, and the Conservative Councillors representing the ward told me that while they “firmly believed that the properties in Rushmoor should be for the local people at the moment”, they were effectively powerless to stop it.
The Home Office knew this would be unpopular. That’s why, except for the residents in the adjacent block, the local community was kept in the dark. Those we spoke to last week said they were unaware of the plan – and when they found out, it was obvious why the Government had been so coy. The anger was palpable.
We covered the story on the channel last Thursday, showing viewers the plush interiors of the flats, the reactions from the indignant locals, and the constituency staff of Leo Docherty MP refusing to open the door to us when we paid a visit (we tried calling first, to no avail). As Farnborough resident Chris Wilson told us, it looked like we were witnessing a “fait accompli”.
Yesterday, however, a source called with a breaking update: the entire plan was about to be “paused” with immediate effect. Sure enough, half an hour later Docherty released a statement: “Following my meeting with the Home Secretary last night, I have just received an update from him confirming a pause in the plans to place asylum seekers in Pinehurst Hill Side, Farnborough.
“I am very grateful indeed to the Home Secretary for listening to my concerns, as well as those of Rushmoor Borough Council and local residents.”
Just five days after our story, the Home Office has – for now – pulled the plug. Whether this is a permanent move or not remains to be seen.
After all, this isn’t the first time luxury accommodation has been earmarked for Home Office use, and net migration is still sky-high. It is something of an intractable whack-a-mole problem for the Government – but with less than a year to go before the next General Election, they are running out of time to solve it.
“The Home Office is the Home Office” isn’t going to cut the mustard when voters head to the polls.
from GB News https://ift.tt/R5xUpDz
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