LISTED: The top 10 boroughs for housing asylum seekers- is YOUR area on the list?

The Labour Party has pledged to clear the 35,000 migrants currently being homed in hotels in one year.

The Conservative Party claimed these plans could see 1,300 new asylum seekers being housed in every local authority if the number of illegal migrants entering the UK were to continue at current levels.

Labour disputed the Tories claims stating it plans to fast-track asylum cases to clear the backlog and set up a new enforcement and returns unit to deport those who have no right to be in the UK.

The top ten councils housing the most asylum seekers in accommodation over the 12 months to March 2024 include Birmingham, Liverpool, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Coventry, Manchester, Cardiff, Leeds, Southwark and Bradford.

Out of these ten areas, only one is controlled by the Conservatives and all the others are Labour councils.

Currently, there are almost nine times as many asylum seekers housed in Labour Council areas (44,748) compared to Conservative areas (5,098).

Additionally, there were four times as many asylum seekers staying in hotels in Labour councils than in Tory councils, and six times as many as those in Lib Dem areas, according to figures from the Home Office, ONS and Open Council Data UK.

Overall, there were 5,435 asylum seekers in hotels in Conservative council areas, 20,401 with Labour and 3,227 with the Lib Dems.

The remaining 4,814 were in council areas where no one party has control.

There are currently 90,000 asylum seekers barred by the Government's current legislation for claiming asylum and set for deportation to Rwanda.

Labour pledges to scrap the Rwanda scheme meaning that 90,000 people will be treated as asylum seekers and allowed to apply to stay in the UK.

Speaking about the proposal, Rayner told the BBC: “Every borough has an obligation to take on their fair share of asylum seekers, but not everyone in hotels that are currently in hotels will be given a right to remain in the UK.

“Some of them shouldn’t be in the UK, but they’re in the UK and they’re costing taxpayers lots of money because we are not treating people fairly and dealing with the backlog.

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“That’s what Labour’s going to do, and that will cost us a lot less if we process people fairly, humanely, and those that have a right to be here are treated with the respect and dignity that the British people would expect us to.

“For people who are genuinely seeking asylum, those that shouldn’t be here will be removed.”She added: “When people have been processed, they either have a right to be here and therefore we need to have the housing supply, which is what the Tories have failed to deliver on.

“That’s why we’re going to build the 1.5 million homes we need across the UK.”