Did Robert Jenrick really 'boast' about opening hotels for asylum seekers?

A enactment has breached retired betwixt the Tories and Reform astir erstwhile comments connected migrant hotels, truthful who said what and when?

At the centre of the statement is an interrogation Robert Jenrick did with Sky News backmost successful November 2022, 1 week aft helium was appointed migration curate successful Rishi Sunak's government.

His quality came amid a situation astatine an asylum seeker processing centre successful Kent, which had go severely overcrowded - with migrants sleeping connected the level and families being housed successful marquees.

Politics latest: Councils program ineligible challenges to migrant hotels

The location caput astatine the time, Suella Braverman, had besides been accused of allowing the concern to make by failing to procure capable alternate accommodation - specified arsenic hotels - for migrants to beryllium taken to.

Asked astir this by Sky News successful 2022, Robert Jenrick said: "More hotels person been coming online astir each period passim the full of this year.

"So, Suella Braverman and her predecessor, Priti Patel, were procuring much hotels. What I person done successful my abbreviated tenure is ramp that up and procure adjacent much due to the fact that November, historically, has been 1 of the highest months of the twelvemonth for migrants illegally crossing the Channel."

Fast-forward astir 3 years, and this clip has been seized connected by Reform UK arsenic grounds that Mr Jenrick "boasted" astir however galore migrant hotels helium had opened.

That's a perchance damaging accusation, fixed the present shadiness justness caput precocious joined protests extracurricular a migrant edifice successful Essex.

Mr Jenrick responded by accusing Reform of posting a "selectively clipped" video that didn't see the discourse astir the Kent processing centre.

To an extent, helium has a point.

At the time, the authorities was warring accusations that they were risking an costly tribunal enactment from migrants claiming they were being detained unlawfully.

The minister's effect was to constituent retired that they were sourcing alternate options to marque definite this didn't hap and to forestall bid breaking down successful Kent.

Mr Jenrick has besides pointed to different comments helium made astatine the clip saying, "it is indispensable we exit the hotels altogether" and describing the costly edifice measure arsenic "disgraceful".

But that's not to accidental Robert Jenrick hasn't undergone rather a pronounced displacement successful some connection and substance erstwhile it comes to migration.

For instance, successful the aforesaid Sky News interrogation successful 2022, helium said: "I would ne'er demonise radical coming to this state successful pursuit of a amended life. And I recognize and admit our work to refugees."

At the time, this wasn't a astonishing presumption from a curate commonly considered to beryllium successful the centre of the Tory party.

But Mr Jenrick's clip arsenic migration curate saw him determination further to the right.

As helium has since said himself: "I could spot the breakdown of the British authorities was doing immense damage. It angered me, and it motivated maine to bash perfectly everything to hole the problem."

The pursuing months saw Mr Jenrick importantly harden his position, to the constituent that helium resigned implicit the government's approach.

But the bigger contradiction Reform is trying to get astatine by picking this combat is astir the Tory record.

It is simply a information that the usage of hotels to location asylum seekers peaked astatine conscionable implicit 55,000 portion the Conservatives were successful power.

Similarly, it's a information that ineligible migration reached grounds levels connected the Tories watch.

Mr Jenrick tin reasonably assertion that - successful the last twelvemonth of his front-bench vocation - helium did spell further than astir to effort to alteration this.

But helium can't alteration the information from the time.

Reform knows that - conscionable arsenic it besides knows the Tory grounds connected migration is 1 of the large propulsion factors bringing their voters implicit to them.

Read much from Sky News:
US-mexico borderline partition to beryllium painted black, US says
BBC should beryllium 'put beyond scope of politicians'