Areas of England with traditional allegiances to the left-wing Labour Party, dubbed the ‘Red Wall’, have seen seven times as many asylum seekers housed in their midst per person, according to an analysis of Home Office data.
Red Wall constituencies in the North of England are reportedly vastly overrepresented in accommodating migrants claiming asylum status, with analysis from The Telegraph newspaper finding that such areas are averaging 15.2 asylum seekers per 10,000 local residents, compared to just 2.1 per 10,000 in the traditionally Conservative base in the South East of the country.
The analysis of Home Office data conducted by the broadsheet found that therefore Red Wall constituencies ranked the second-highest in the nation, only behind the nearby North East, which is currently housing 29.3 migrants per 10,000 people. The paper claimed that the disproportionate placement of asylum seekers in the Red Wall comes as a result of voluntary decisions by local Labour Party-run councils to welcome in migrants to their areas over the past decade.
However, in the 2019 General Election, Boris Johnson’s Tories made significant gains in the heavily working-class region in terms on parliamentary representation, largely on the back of the promise finally “get Brexit done” after years of dithering by Westminster after the 2016 EU Referendum. A central motivation for such areas to switch their allegiance from the Labour Party — in some instances for the first time in a century — was a desire to “take back control” of the country’s borders and reduce immigration.
This promise has not only not come to fruition, but the opposite has occurred, with both legal and illegal boat migration soaring to record highs in the years since the 2019 election. This has left many of the Red Wall Tory MPs in a particularly vulnerable position heading into the next election, in which the Labour Party is currently holding a commanding twenty-point advantage in general polling preferences.
Commenting on the issue, Red Wall Tory MP for Bury North, James Daly said: “If you continue to put people into four-star accommodation in areas where there are no services or infrastructure to support them, then you are going to get serious issues.
“The situation of where people go will only be solved by a fundamental change in policy. That means policies like Rwanda and only allowing asylum seekers in through legal and safe routes. The big question is then how many we as a country want to allow in. If you don’t make that decision, it will be never ending.”
Another Tory MP, Jonathan Gullis of Stoke on Trent, warned that the Conservatives will be “wiped out” in the Red Wall in the next election if the government fails to get a “grip on the small boats”.
While he praised Prime Minister Sunak for making the issue of stopping illegal boat migration in the English Channel one of his top priorities, Gullis said: “Words must turn into action. People must see a difference in their communities.”
Last year, the UK saw a record 45,000 illegal aliens cross the Channel in small people smuggler-operated boats from the beaches of France, and this year, the government is expecting at least 65,000 to arrive, the vast majority of whom — despite mostly being young males — will likely claim asylum. The record waves of migrants landing on British shores has seen the government put up approximately 40,000 alleged asylum seekers in hotels across the country.
Prime Minister Sunak has said that he wants to end the covid-era hotel scheme and relocate migrants to empty military bases, school accommodations, and holiday camps instead has so far yet to materialise amid local opposition. The government’s plan of sending asylum-seeking boat migrants to processing centres in Rwanda has failed to get off the ground, having been mired in legal challenges.
There has been growing tension surrounding the hotel scheme, with a protest turning violent last week outside a migrant hotel in Knowsley, Merseyside amid local furry over video footage that appeared to show a young migrant man propositioning a teenage girl for sex. Days later, four supposedly teenage asylum seekers from Afghanistan were arrested for allegedly raping a 15-year-old schoolgirl in Kent.
Responding to the report, a Home Office spokesman said: “The number of people arriving in the UK who seek asylum and require accommodation has reached record levels, placing unprecedented pressures on the asylum system.
“The fairer full dispersal model aims to increase the amount of accommodation available for asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute helping to reduce the time they need to stay in costly hotels.”
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
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