'Peddling fear': Heated exchanges on immigration and asylum seekers as former Dudley MP calls on council to act on hotels

Former Conservative MP for Dudley North Marco Longhi had provided the council with a petition with 3,229 signatures, 3,086 of them electronic, concerning the housing of illegal migrants and asylum seekers, and which was to be debated at the council meeting on Monday (October 20).

The petition calls on Dudley Council "to reject the relocation of illegal migrants/asylum seekers by HM Home Office to any hotels within our borough", to seek injunctions on hotels being used for such a purpose and "to ensure that in future all hotels in our borough remain open to the general public".

Mr Longhi, who left the Tories and is now the chair of Dudley Reform UK, gave a speech before the debate, saying that he was speaking on behalf of residents who felt their voices were being ignored and who were concerned about an unchecked spread of unauthorised HMOs and the repurposing of buildings for asylum accommodation without proper planning, consent or consultation.

He said: "These residents are not extremists and they are not agitators, they are ordinary, decent people who love this borough and who want to feel safe in their own communities. This is not about hostility, this is about fairness, safety and accountability.

"An article for direction requires that smaller HMOs have planning permission, which is a good policy and Dudley has it, but policy without informal enforcement is meaningless and we need action that residents can see.

"I would ask the council to do the following: publish a list of all HMOs quarterly enforcement data reports so that the public can see what the council is doing, what action is taken and, within identified timeframes.

"In considering applications, I ask that the council gives fuller weight to the fear of crime as a legitimate material planning consideration and to seek further specialist legal advice so that the council is ready to apply for and defend injunctions if it needed to."

Mr Longhi also made reference to a court ruling around the Bell Hotel in Epping, acknowledged his "respect" for the council's planning and enforcement teams and said the answer lay in criticism of political leadership.

'Serco treats us with contempt'

In response, Dudley Council leader Councillor Patrick Harley said the council had done a lot of work to ensure the borough had the lowest numbers of asylum seekers in the West Midlands. He said that Mr Longhi had not spoken out in the same way against Conservative Home Secretaries during his time in Parliament.

He said: "Dudley, in all my time in this position, has had one hotel occupied by Serco, which is one too many for me, but one it is, and Dudley has, from the last data available to myself, 669 asylum seekers, of which 51 are in the one hotel.

"As leader, I've held to account both Serco and the Home Office under different governments, but I cannot recall Marco as the MP ever calling out Conservative Home Secretaries for the shocking way Serco operates and treats councils with contempt, and they do treat us with contempt.

"He has never once criticised the last Government he was part of, although he is happy do that now. If you really care, you show that when you criticise your own side at the same time, not when you've slipped off to join another party.

"Actions speak louder than words and, unfortunately, Marco was silent when we came to holding Conservative Home Secretaries to account."

Councillor Harley said the council would work to take the same tough stance on HMOs as on hotels and continue to hold the Government, Home Office and Serco to account.

Labour leader Councillor Adam Aston said he agreed that it was right to raise questions about how the Home Office was handling the situation, but said the answer was not to scapegoat people, but to fix the "broken" system.

He said: "When the Government took over 16 months ago, it inherited 224,742 cases in the asylum system, which included a backlog of 85,839 case affecting more than 119,000 people, and that backlog didn't appear out of nowhere.

"It was a result of years of failure to maintain a functioning immigration and asylum system and, yes, that includes former MPs like Mr Longhi, who was part of that Government, and they allowed delays to spiral out of control, left people in limbo, unable to work, unable to move forward and stuck in hotels for months and even years.

"The Labour Government has processed tens of thousands of older claims and are on track to eliminate them entirely and have ramped up the recruitment of asylum caseworkers and are committed to the end of this Parliament.

"This is not about being tough or soft on immigration, this is about being competent, fair and efficient, and truth is not just a virtue, it is a responsibility.

"Words which are shared faster than facts and opinions dressed up as evidence serve only to sow division within our communities and I hope no one in this room wants that and I'm sure Mr Longhi will join me in condemning anyone spreading misinformation on this issue."

'Unite our communities'

Black Country Party leader Councillor Pete Lowe said he agreed with what Councillors Aston and Harley had to say, as well as acknowledging that there were well-intentioned people who had signed the petition.

He said: "We recognise many of the issues raised within here, but we also see that vibrant Dudley that all people in this chamber are to seeking to encourage.

"One that looks to what unites our communities, not divides our communities, a Dudley which is tolerant, that recognises and will discuss those challenge we have.

"That is a Dudley that I recognise and that is a Dudley that I am proud to be part of."

Two councillors from the Liberal Democrats heavily criticised the petition and Marco Longhi, with Councillor Andrew Tromans urging him to reflect on his actions and Councillor Ryan Priest accusing Mr Longhi of having "the brass neck" to bring a petition in for what he said was a problem his Government had caused.

Councillor Tromans said: "This is the shameful legacy of the previous Conservative Government he served in and your petition speaks to deep-seated grievances within our communities, which you knowingly exploit, and people are angry and rightly so.

"Real wages in the UK have stagnated since 2008, a weekly shop for a family is averaging £95, and that's just the basics, and 15 years of austerity has left our public services on their knees, while our waiting lists for social housing in the borough hovers at around 5,000.

"Meanwhile, in the last 30 years, the British taxpayer has paid 200 billion pounds to shareholders who have a stake in key British industries which was privatised in the 1990s, with the 50 wealthiest families in this country holding more wealth than the poorest 50 per cent.

"I move that the people who do most harm in our society arrive by public jet, not small boat, and all of us in public life have a duty to promote robust debates, instead of peddling fear and division."

'Your Government broke the system in the first place!'

Councillor Priest said: "Anybody with sense can see the backlog is spiralling out of control, with no safe and legal route into the country, forcing asylum seekers into small boats and across the channel.

"But, the brass neck, Marco, of you, of all people, to bring this petition here tonight is staggering, because it was your Government that broke the asylum system in the first place, who introduced asylum hotels and, in fact, Marco, you're the only person in this chamber tonight who could have done something about it.

"When this disastrous policy was introduced, it was you and your Government that broke the system and now you're trying to build a campaign out of the rubble.

"You're not on the side of the people of Dudley, you're on your own side and you know full well the division that you stir."

In response, Reform Councillor Shawn Keasey decried the Liberal Democrat response, accusing them of "gaslighting", and backed his Reform party colleague and the petition.

He said: "Thank you to Councillor Harley and Councillor Aston as I thought everything you said tonight was genuine, came from what you believe, none of it was personal and that's the way it should be.

"Then we get to the Liberal Democrat gaslighting, and you blame Marco for the actions of people sitting in the gallery and the 3,200 people who signed his petition.

"They are not puppets, they are people with genuine concerns and to write them off in the way you just have is absolutely shameful.

"The people of Dudley didn't create this crisis, the Conservatives and Blair Labour Government did as they opened the borders and lost control of asylum and enforcement and left local councils to pick up the pieces, and when residents express real fear, frustration and hopelessness, the response from certain people is ridicule."