First Minister slams Tories for ‘despicable and opportunistic’ asylum debate

A Tory debate at Holyrood calling for an end to the use of hotels to house asylum seekers in Scotland was condemned as “despicable and opportunistic” by the First Minister.

John Swinney hit out at the Scottish Conservatives after they lodged a motion calling for the use of of hotels to house asylum seekers to be brought to an end “as soon as possible”.

Raising the issue in Holyrood, Tory local government spokesperson Craig Hoy said the number of asylum seekers being put up in hotels and bed and breakfasts north of the border had risen from 188 in August 2020 to more than 1,500.

Calling for action from governments at Holyrood and Westminster, Mr Hoy insisted that while Britain “should be a place to live, to work, to flourish, to put down roots” he added it should not be “a hotel for those who have entered the country illegally”.

Mr Swinney however said the debate  – held in the wake of a series of protests outside a hotel in Falkirk used to house asylum seekers – was “one of the most despicable and opportunistic moments I’ve ever witnessed in my 26 years in the Scottish Parliament”.

While he said Mr Hoy was “tacitly acknowledging” the failure of the previous Tory government at Westminster to deal with asylum, he said the Conservative was looking to “politically exploit this issue in a most disgusting fashion”.

Mr Swinney added: “It embodies where the Conservative Party has found itself these days now.”

Mr Hoy however insisted it was “scurrilous” of the First Minister to “throw about that kind of language”.

The Tory went on to argue the SNP’s “open door” approach on immigration was forcing councils “to prioritise the needs of those from elsewhere when Scots struggle to get a roof over their head”.

Mr Hoy added that the financial “burden” on councils of housing immigrants “can not be overstated”.

He accepted that the debate on asylum seekers was “politically heated”, and one that “some people in this Parliament do not want us to have”.

But Mr Hoy continued: “It is a debate we cannot afford not to have any longer.

“Because today there are over 6,000 asylum seekers in Scotland. Glasgow is housing more asylum seekers than any other council in the United Kingdom, a staggering 3,844 as of the end of June. That is 40% more than Birmingham.

“This can not continue. The economic costs are considerable, £240 million a year to house asylum seekers in Scotland – £41,000 to house and support each and every one.”

The Tory told MSPs that “ignoring this problem will not make it go away”.

He accepted the previous Tory government had been “wrong” to start to use hotels to house asylum seekers – but said the decision to do so had been made during “the eye of the Covid storm” .

Mr Hoy said: “Now we have to admit it was the wrong policy even if it was well intentioned.”

However he added: “Things have got much worse as a result of Labour’s failure to tackle the mounting immigration crisis.

“Rather than stopping he boats Keir Starmer and Labour have allowed the numbers to swell.”

Labour’s Mark Griffin however accused the Tories of “dangerous and divisive rhetoric” on the issue.

Accusing them of either “political amnesia” or “blatant hypocrisy”, he stated: “We can’t forget which party is responsible, entirely responsible, for the huge increase in the use of hotels for asylum seekers.”

He added that 14 years of Tory rule at Westminster had “pushed our asylum system to the point of collapse” – leaving thousands of people “stuck in limbo while the appeals system sunk under the strain”.

But he said since Labour came to power last year, “the number of asylum decisions has doubled and the backlog has fallen by 24% in just 12 months”.