The two other major sites identified by the Tories – the Bibby Stockholm ship And RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire – have both been abandoned and will be closed by Labor as accommodation for asylum seekers.
However, the Ministry of the Interior is faced with a continuous flow of migrants More than 30,000 people have crossed the Channel so far this year, an increase of 12 percent on last year.
It has forced the government to open at least two hotels and change the use of another hotel to house single male migrants, despite their pledge to end the use of hotels for asylum seekers.
Mr Cleverly said: “Labour’s failure to stop the boats or crush the gangs should not be used as an excuse to cram people into Wethersfield.
“Given that they have closed all the other major venues, isn’t it time they did the same to Wethersfield. It must also close. It has always been the wrong solution.”
‘A license to print money’
Ms Patel accused the Prime Minister and Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, of “reversing the use of sites like Wethersfield and working behind the scenes to expand them, while the use of hotels increases”.
She added: “Labour voted against any deterrent, including Greek-style reception centers to house and remove migrants, as now adopted by the Italian government. Starmer and Cooper are merely giving criminal gangs a license to print money while migrants in France queue to cross the Channel.”
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