Home Secretary closes dozens more asylum hotels as he warns mass migration has hit ‘tipping point’
MASS migration has now reached a tipping point, the Home Secretary warned last night — as he closed dozens more asylum hotels.
James Cleverly also raised the minimum salary required to bring family.
From today, migrants must earn £29,000 for a family visa — rising to £38,700 by 2025.
Meanwhile, 150 of the expensive hotels used to house asylum seekers will have been handed back to the local communities by the start of May.
Mr Cleverly said: “We have reached a tipping point with mass migration.
“There is no simple solution or easy decision which cuts numbers to levels acceptable to the British people.”
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But the minister claimed action has come at “remarkable speed”.
He went on: “We’ve acted to cut unsustainable numbers, to protect British workers and their wages, to ensure those bringing family to the UK do not burden taxpayers, and to build an immigration system fit for the future.”
The new restrictions mean 300,000 of the 1.2million migrants who arrived last year would now be ineligible.
It comes as the EU voted last night to move migrants between member states in a bid to share the burden.
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In the UK, there are now 20,000 fewer migrants staying in hotels than six months ago.
Mr Cleverly vowed to “keep going until the last is closed”.
New figures show £4.3billion, more than a quarter of the overseas aid budget, was spent on hosting refugees last year.
The total, including £2.5billion on asylum accommodation, was up £600million from the year before, according to the Independent Commission for Aid Impact watchdog.
Rishi Sunak wants to cut the UK’s tie to the European Convention of Human Rights to stop the small boats but faces a Cabinet revolt.