Nigel Farage criticises use of Peterborough's Dragonfly Hotel to house asylum seekers
Home Office says few hotels are now being used as refuges
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has slammed the Home Office for its use of a three-star Peterborough hotel as asylum seeker accommodation.
Mr Farage was in Peterborough on Tuesday, April 1 to help launch the campaign of Reform's Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral candidate Ryan Coogan.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service during his visit, Mr Farage labelled the housing of asylum seekers at the Dragonfly Hotel in Thorpe Meadows as "outrageous".
He said: "Local residents are enraged by things like this, particularly when the waits for social housing are as long as they are and particularly that young men who cross the channel and destroy their identity documents get free healthcare.
"They can see a GP and get dental care. Ask people in Peterborough what chance they've got of seeing an NHS dentist. It's one of those 80/20 issues where 80 per cent of people think it's outrageous."
Up to 146 male asylum seekers were moved into the 70-bedroom hotel next to the rowing lake on November 14.
The decision sparked outrage among residents and local politicians, with MP Andrew Pakes campaigning for the hotel to be “stood down as soon as possible”.
Mr Pakes, along with North West Cambridgeshire MP Sam Carling and Peterborough City Council leader Dennis Jones, wrote a letter to Illegal Migration Minister Dame Angela Eagle to express concerns about using the hotel.
The letter argued that the hotel was ‘wholly unsuitable’ for the purpose of housing asylum seekers and would ‘significantly impact local services’.
The Home Office has not confirmed if asylum seekers are still being housed at the hotel.
A spokesperson for the department said: "This government inherited an asylum system under unprecedented strain.
"We are continuing to end the use of asylum hotels and there are now fewer hotels open than there were before the election, with more due to close by the end of May."
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough's mayoral election will take place on Thursday, May 1.
The four other candidates in the running are Paul Bristow (Conservative), Lorna Dupre (Liberal Democrats), Bob Ensch (Green Party) and Anna Smith (Labour).