Andy Burnham has finally addressed the migrant crisis for the first time since taking office last Monday, pledging to continue to work on closing hotels housing asylum seekers.
It comes as almost 1,000 migrants (881) made the journey by small boat in the last week, with one mega dinghy carrying more than 100 migrants on one vessel as the largest arrival from a single boat on record.
Asked whether Mr Burnham would like to see the hotels closed, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman replied: “The work on that continues.”
He added that there “is no change in that work that’s being carried out by the Home Secretary [Shabana Mahmood] in her department”.
The spokesman said Mr Burnham had focused in his first week as Prime Minister “on taking immediate action to give people and families breathing space on the cost of living”.
He earlier said: “I think the Prime Minister’s been clear in recent weeks that immigration is an issue that matters to people.
“He’s been clear in his reappointment of Shabana Mahmood as Home Secretary to continue to deliver the reforms needed to restore fairness to the system and get migration under control.”
The Prime Minister pointed to progress under the home Secretary’s reforms, with numbers down on last year, and the use of hotels for asylum accommodation falling – with plans for every one to be shut for good by the end of this Parliament.
One mega dinghy carrying more than 100 migrants was the largest arrival from a single boat on record
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Mr Burnham is said to “not be complacent”, with more to do to create a system with “control at its heart”.
Meanwhile, he failed to accept allegations from critics that he was “sub contracting” the immigration issue out to Shabana Mahmood, and said there were a range of ways the Government is tackling migration to bring order to borders.
