Knowsley: Government trying to end 'excessive' use of asylum hotels

The government has said it is trying to stop the "excessive use of hotels" to house asylum seekers after violence outside accommodation in Merseyside.

Fifteen people, including a 13-year-old boy, were arrested after protests turned violent in Knowsley on Friday.

A police officer and two members of the public were injured as missiles including lit fireworks were thrown.

Foreign Office Minister Andrew Mitchell said the violence was "completely unacceptable".

Speaking on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show, he said: "We have a duty to welcome these people.

"Often they are caught in desperate jeopardy, but equally we have a duty to house them appropriately and to work with local people.

"The Home Office is trying very hard now to stop the excessive use of hotels and find different ways of placing them in appropriate places in the community and that is something the Home Office will achieve."

Andrew Mitchell said the government planned to accomodate asylum seekers "in appropriate places in the community"

Lisa Nandy, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities, said the government was providing "no support whatsoever".

"The government contracts big companies to provide what they call asylum support," she said.

"Instead these companies maximise the profit they make, they put people into some appalling accommodation without help or support - people who've been through hell and back before they even reached this country."

Sir George Howarth MP, Labour MP for Knowsley, said the protest was triggered by "an alleged incident posted on social media".

Police confirmed they had been investigating reports that "a man made inappropriate advances toward a teenage girl" in Kirkby on Monday.

No victim had been initially identified and a man in his 20s was arrested on Thursday in another part of the country on suspicion of a public order offence, Serena Kennedy, Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, said.

He was released with no further action following advice from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

The investigation was "ongoing" and Chief Constable Kennedy appealed for anyone with information to contact the police.

A police van was set alight by some protesters

Alan Marsden, who lives locally, said he attended the protest after seeing online accounts about the case involving the teenager but left when it became clear it was no longer peaceful.

He said the protest initially involved "mostly women and children" but "kids with masks and balaclavas" later arrived.

Merseyside Police said they had been "facilitating a peaceful protest and counter protest" outside the hotel but "a number of people, who were not part of the original protest group, turned up, and it is clear that they were only interested in causing trouble".

Asylum seekers and counter-protesters described the violence as "frightening"

Knowsley Council previously said it had been given less than 48 hours' notice in January 2022 of the Home Office's intention to temporarily accommodate asylum seekers at the hotel.

Ms Nandy criticised the government for not consulting local communities hosting asylum seekers, saying: "It is a recipe for disaster.

"And when you lay on that you have a government that talks about things like an invasion in relation to immigration, you have a perfect storm, a really toxic mix that is being created.

"We could change the rhetoric around asylum so that we no longer have a home secretary who tries to blame the government's failings on some of the most vulnerable people in our country."

Home Secretary Suella Braverman tweeted on Saturday that she condemned the "appalling disorder".

"The alleged behaviour of some asylum seekers is never an excuse for violence and intimidation," she said.

Asylum seekers in the UK

• In the year to September 2022, 85,902 people applied for asylum in the UK - the highest number for nearly 20 years - according to government data

• Of these, more than 17,000 people were granted a form of protection

• Most asylum applicants came from Albania, Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria

• The UK's asylum system costs £1.5bn a year - almost £7m a day is spent on hotel accommodation for refugees and asylum seekers

• Critics say the daily cost is so high because of the time taken to decide on applications, and a ban on asylum seekers working while waiting for confirmation of their status

• The UK government defines an asylum seeker as someone making a claim for recognition as a refugee, who are normally allowed to remain for at least five years

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