'Slap in the face!' Reform UK MP claims £80m withheld from Essex roads as BILLIONS spent on migrant hotels
Reform UK MP claims £80 million needed to fix Essex roads as spending on migrant hotels spirals
James McMurdock/Getty Images/PA
A Reform UK MP has claimed an 80-million-pound investment needed to fix Essex roads has been "consistently denied" by Downing Street as spending on housing asylum seekers and refugees reaches unprecedented levels.
Speaking exclusively to GB News, MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock, James McMurdock said: "I've met with the leader of Essex County Council twice now, along with his senior group. On both occasions, he's referenced this £80 million figure he's asked and pleaded for, which is the figure he needed in addition to his existing budget to really tidy up the road system in Essex. But it has been consistently denied."
The newly-elected MP acknowledges that it will take a far greater sum to fix the potholes and other maintenance issues that blight Essex roads - but the investment would still have a significant impact.
"There's 5000 miles worth of road network in Essex, so obviously for 80 million, unless you're doing it for about a pound, a pound a yard, you're not going to cover every square inch but it would really cover every single issue that's of note in the Essex Road system," Mr McMurdock told your correspondent.
He added: "It's a significant improvement to the standard of living for the people who live and drive in Essex. It's a significant improvement that could be made if that money had been given. It wasn't. It's been consistently denied."
Department for Transport denies the claim that it has refused funding to Essex County Council to help with road maintenance, citing over £34 million earmarked for highways maintenance in the 2024/25 financial year.
When approached for comment, a DfT spokesperson told GB News: “We are determined to address the poor state of our roads and get Britain moving again, which is why we have committed to helping councils to fix up to one million more potholes a year across England.”
Councillor Tom Cunningham, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Highways, Infrastructure and Sustainable Transport, told GB News: “Recognising the importance of the Essex road network to our economic growth, we have invested more money than ever in the maintenance and repair of our roads, including an additional £37 million from our own budget to bolster existing highways improvements and deliver even more repairs.
“Although we have made significant investment ourselves, it is essential that we have real support from central Government in order to maintain a viable road network for Essex residents and business. The Chancellor has the opportunity to make this happen in her budget announcements, due to take place on 30 October.
“The additional funding that we have put in includes our “Priority One” campaign, announced in August, which will see us invest in additional crews and resources to support highways maintenance across the county.
“Essex has one of the largest road networks in the country with ever increasing amounts of traffic which has a significant impact on the road network condition, therefore we welcome all investment from central Government to meet that challenge. We will always push for more funding for Essex to invest in the priorities for our county."
The Reform MP claims that the government is "burying its head in the sand and ignoring the challenges that we face as an island nation".
As Mr McMurdock sees it, the money needed to improve Essex roads is a drop in the ocean compared to the spiralling costs of migrant hotels.
He acknowledges that the money doesn't come from the same pot but slams what he regards as "mismanagement and incompetence" on the part of "our leaders".
The MP continued: "Depending on where you get your number from, four or five million a day on hotels for migrants who arrive here illegally. Yet the significant good that £80 million could do for our local infrastructure, which is being denied, is considered an extreme cost.
"A luxury is being spent in a matter of weeks on these apparently 'unavoidable' apparently to do with uncontrolled migration. It's a slap in the face to regular people who want their country to work. This is a deeply ingrained issue whereby they [the Government] are happy to sign away very large sums of money for certain things and flat out refused to sign additional support or funding for other things."
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Twenty-one new road surfacing schemes have been undertaken in the first weeks of Essex County Council’s £25 million Priority One campaign
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His comments come after it was revealed last month that the UK government's spending on housing asylum seekers and refugees has reached unprecedented levels, swallowing up a significant portion of the overseas aid budget.
In the last financial year, £4.3 billion was allocated to hosting asylum seekers in Britain, accounting for more than a quarter of the £15.4 billion overseas aid budget, according to official data.
This surge in spending has raised concerns about the impact on the UK's international development efforts. The costs have surpassed the £2.5 billion increase in the aid budget scheduled between 2022 and 2024 by former Conservative chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy is reportedly pushing for an emergency top-up to development spending, fearing that without additional funding, the aid budget could be further diminished. This reduction could potentially undermine the government's global ambitions.
The current system, introduced in 2010, allows for asylum seeker housing costs to be paid from the aid budget, despite being controlled by the Home Office. This arrangement has come under scrutiny as spending on the programme has escalated dramatically in recent years.
Meanwhile, infrastructure is creaking in Britain.
The A12 was named the worst road in England in a recent survey by Transport Focus. The A-road, which connects Lowestoft in Suffolk to London, via Essex, received the lowest satisfaction score of 56 per cent from over 9,000 road users surveyed about their journeys on motorways and major 'A' roads managed by National Highways.
The survey was responded to by 9,000 road users and feedback on journey time, road surfaces and potholes was provided.
This low satisfaction score for the A12 highlights concerns about the quality of Essex's road infrastructure.
Essex Highways announced last week that road surfacing works in Chelmsford, Rochford, Colchester, Braintree, Maldon, Castle Point and Epping Forest have all been undertaken following the launch of Essex County Council’s £25 million Priority One campaign.
Twenty-one new road surfacing schemes have been undertaken in the first weeks of the campaign.
"Announced in August, the Priority One investment will see additional crews and resources pumped into highways maintenance across the county. Crews will tackle road surfacing, vegetation clearance, drainage, signs and lining," according to the Essex Highways website.