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Army barracks could be used temporarily to house people seeking asylum in the UK, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer is "absolutely determined" to end the use of hotels earlier than planned, a senior cabinet minister has said.
Defence Secretary John Healey said military planners were looking at potential sites for accommodation on defence bases as the prime minister wants to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers sooner than the promised date of 2029.
Healey told Sky News' "Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips" that "with the Home Office, I have put military planners in their border command and in their planning for the future."
"We are looking at the potential use of military and non-military sites for temporary housing for people coming in on these small boats who may not be eligible to be here or need to be processed quickly before we decide whether or not to grant their claim, or whether or not to deport them, as we have done in record numbers over the past year," he said.
Speaking later on BBC One Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Healey was asked whether the military could play a bigger role in border patrolling. He did not give a clear answer, but suggested that military bases and helping with planning were the extent of the army's work for the time being.
Starmer has taken steps to toughen his policy on the small boats issue as Reform has a double-digit lead in the polls and continues to attack the government for failing to deliver on its promise to crack down on gangs. There have also been protests outside hotels, including in Epping in Essex, where anger erupted after a 14-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by an asylum seeker.
This week, Starmer has changed course by appointing Shabana Mahmood as Home Secretary, replacing Yvette Cooper. The government is also considering trying to change the application of the European Convention on Human Rights right to family life, in order to enable more deportations of those it believes have no right to be in the UK.
Reform UK said at its conference over the weekend that it would ban the crossing of asylum seekers by small boats within two weeks of taking office. Nigel Farage clarified on Sunday that he meant he would pass legislation within two weeks to stop judges preventing deportations of those who have entered the UK by illegal means.
Zia Yusuf, head of policy at Reform UK, denied claims that asylum seekers would be housed in shipping containers, saying the party would use “purpose-built modular steel structures”.
Speaking on Sky News on Sunday, Zia Yusuf defended proposals for the rapid construction of detention centres, citing international examples. "We can look around the world where things have worked and worked well," he said.
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