Labour considering using military barracks to house asylum seekers

Defence Secretary John Healey has told Sky News the authorities is considering utilizing subject barracks to location asylum seekers, arsenic an estimated 1,000 radical arrived successful the UK connected tiny boats connected Saturday.

"We are looking astatine the imaginable usage of subject and non-military sites for impermanent accommodation for the radical who travel crossed connected these tiny boats that whitethorn not person a close to beryllium here," helium told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips.

"I'm looking truly hard astatine it. I'm looking astatine it with the Home Office, and I recognise that the nonaccomplishment of assurance of the nationalist implicit caller years successful Britain's quality to power its borders needs to beryllium satisfied. And we person to woody with this occupation with the tiny boats," Mr Healey added.

Politics latest: Labour considers lodging migrants connected subject sites

The measurement follows wide protests this summertime implicit lodging migrants successful hotels.

Fresh tiny vessel arrivals were spotted connected Sunday, aft an estimated 1,000 radical arrived connected Saturday - erstwhile French authorities said 24 radical were rescued portion trying to transverse the Channel.

The figures comparison to a comparatively caller lull successful crossings. In the erstwhile 7 days (30 August to 5 September) the Home Office recorded nary tiny vessel arrivals.

Shabana Mahmood volition person the occupation of tackling amerciable migration aft taking implicit from Yvette Cooper arsenic location caput connected Friday - erstwhile Sir Keir Starmer carried out a large furniture reshuffle pursuing the resignation of his lawman premier curate Angela Rayner.

National Crime Agency (NCA) figures amusement grounds levels of disruption of migration transgression networks successful 2024/25.

Officials judge this contributed to the lowest fig of boats crossing the Channel successful August since 2019.

But, contempt the 3,567 arrivals successful August being the lowest since 2021, erstwhile looking crossed the full of 2025, the fig of 29,003 is the highest connected grounds for this constituent successful a year.

Sky's Political Correspondent Liz Bates said that aft Labour scrapped the erstwhile government's arguable Rwanda policy and shut down the Bibby Stockholm barge, ministers are "hitting up against galore of the aforesaid problems" with "a truly breached and precise dilatory asylum system".

"The discourse to each of this is simply a immense shake-up astatine the Home Office, and I deliberation thing of an admittance that [Yvette] Cooper, contempt her years of experience, could not get a grip... of this occupation of radical coming crossed the Channel successful tiny boats and past ending up successful asylum hotels," she added.

Army bases were antecedently utilized by the Conservative government, but this prompted section protests, and the sites were wide criticised for their mediocre conditions successful immoderate cases.

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As Sky's Home Editor Jason Farrell writes, Ms Mahmood has go the location caput of a state wherever the nationalist emblem is being hoisted arsenic a awesome of dissatisfaction - with choler astatine the accomplishment of hopeless migrants crossing the Channel successful tiny boats.

Sir Keir's sweeping changes

Sir Keir Starmer has announced sweeping changes to his ministerial squad successful the Home Office arsenic his authorities works to get a grip of amerciable migration to the UK.

Here's a database of who has been moved, too the location secretary.

Dame Angela Eagle, who was borderline information and asylum minister, has been moved to the situation department.

Dame Diana Johnson, who was policing and transgression minister, has been moved to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

She has said successful a station connected X that it was an "honour" to enactment with constabulary officers, and she is "delighted" to beryllium moving to the DWP.

Dan Jarvis has been fixed a relation successful the Cabinet Office, successful summation to his station arsenic information curate successful the Home Office.

And Sarah Jones, who was manufacture minister, has been moved to the Home Office.