Overview

• An estimated 32,000 asylum seekers are currently housed in hotels with no clear alternative accommodation available
• David Bolt questioned the effectiveness of the government’s ‘smash the gangs’ plan for organised immigration crime
• More than 18,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel in 2025, the highest midyear total since records began in 2018
• Oxford data shows hotel accommodation costs reached £132 per person per day in 2023 versus £19 in other housing, underlining a £1 billion annual savings target
• Downing Street said Dame Angela Eagle will meet food delivery firms next week to tackle evidence of illegal working by asylum seekers