Starmer: Tackling Channel crossings has allowed us to close more asylum hotels

George Lithgow and Rhiannon James, Press Association

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said his Government’s action on reducing the number of migrants crossing the English Channel has allowed it to close more asylum hotels.

It is the first time Sir Keir has directly linked the number of crossings with the number of operational hotels.

The total number of arrivals by small boat in 2026 now stands at 11,267 according to provisional figures from the Home Office – down 39% on the equivalent point last year.

On Wednesday, 221 people made the journey, arriving in three boats.

The Home Office announced the closure of 11 more asylum hotels in April, with people moved into alternative accommodation including former military barracks.

The Government has pledged to completely end the use of such hotels by the next election.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will reportedly publish the Immigration and Asylum Bill next week after securing the approval of Andy Burnham.

Sir Keir told broadcasters on Thursday: “In the first two years of this government, I’ve really brought progress on immigration, and one of the tests of an outgoing prime minister is whether you leave the country in a better state than you found it, and I am leaving it in a better state.

“Immigration has long been a cause of concern.

“On the crossings across the Channel, which so many people are concerned about understandably, we’ve brought those numbers down.

“So the steps we’ve taken are beginning to pay off, and at the same time, asylum hotels are closing.

“The last two are linked because with less people crossing the channel, there are less people who need to be housed.”

The i reported the Home Secretary will announce new military sites for asylum accommodation later this week, as she accelerates hotel closures across the country to meet a pledge to end their use by 2029.

In the Commons, Conservative MP Katie Lam (Weald of Kent) criticised the Government for announcing plans for “12 new asylum seeker centres across the country” to the media before Parliament.

She called for a statement on the issue to be brought to the chamber so MPs “can scrutinise it on behalf of the people that we represent”.

Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said it was ” totally unacceptable” of the Government, adding: “We need to make sure that MPs of all sides hear it first, because I do not know whose constituents are affected.”

He said he was “more than willing” to create time for a statement on the issue.