MP reassurances ahead of hosting Skegness asylum seekers meeting

Local MP Matt Warman said he hopes to offer reassurances to anyone concerned, when he hosts a public meeting to discuss the use of hotels in Skegness for housing asylum seekers.

Five hotels were reported to be housing asylum seekers in the town, as well as one outside Boston. Residents aired their concerns about the issue at previous meetings as emotions ran high.

Craig Leyland, leader of East Lindsey District Council, previously wrote to the immigration minister to express his concern about the pressure on local services, and the lack of notice from the Home Office, something that has also frustrated the local MP.

Ahead of hosting Friday’s public meeting, which will take place at 5.30pm at the Storehouse in Skegness, Boston and Skegness MP Matt Warman said: “I’m not pretending that I have every single answer to every single question that might come up, but I certainly am going to be in a position to give people more information, and we’ll have a panel of people to hopefully provide more reassurance.

“The purpose of the meeting is to provide people with answers about who, what, where, and when they’ve got in Skegness.

“Medium-term, the plan has to be – and a group of us are already doing this – to make sure that the Home Office delivers on its promise to stop using hotels as quickly as possible.”

He suggested using disused military bases or larger purpose-built facilities warning that the use of hotels in Skegness could “potentially damage the local economy by taking out of service valuable assets to the tourist industry”.

MP for Boston and Skegness Matt Warman.

Matt Warman said “the problem at the end of the day is the numbers of people coming and the speed at which the Home Office processes them”.

There appears to be a lot of opposition to the scheme to house asylum seekers in Skegness, and when asked if that makes those people racist, the local MP added: “No, I don’t think it does.

“I think people are concerned about this when they talk to me. There are of course some people who have gone on record saying some quite extreme things, but the vast majority of people are talking about ‘what is the pressure on the health service? what is the pressure on the police and on public services, especially to the detriment of local people?

“Also, there are people who are worried about whether it makes people either less safe or feel less safe. It’s really important that we provide people with the reassurance that they deserve.

“I think it’s important as well to be quite robust with people, and say there are some facts that it’s important to lay out and that hopefully allays people’s concerns where they have concerns, but also bust some of the myths that do sometimes come out sounding intolerant.”

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