If we must take asylum seekers, and it is a mark of how civilised we are that we do, then surely it would be best if they were accommodated in such a way that it did not disrupt the lives of ordinary working people already in the country. We hear plenty from the chattering classes in the suburbs of the virtues of taking in asylum seekers. But these are the very people who do not have to live near them; they rarely see them let alone have their lives disrupted by them. And what greater disruption could there be that losing your job because your place of work is needed to house asylum seekers, and your services are no longer required? Well, that is exactly what is happening across the UK, repeatedly.
At Stradey Park Spa Hotel in Wales, 95 workers were summoned to a meeting and informed that they will be made redundant from 10 July. This is due to Wales expecting an arrival of around 250 asylum seekers and the Home Office plans to house them in 76 rooms at the hotel. It adds insult to injury that they are being accommodated in a spa where most of the—soon to be former—workers could not afford to stay themselves.
This absurdity is not only confined to Wales. At an Aylesbury Vale hotel, 31 out of 40 workers were fired to enable the property to house asylum seekers instead; an employee at a Yorkshire hotel, the Humber View Hotel, claimed that 90% of the staff lost their jobs due to the arrival of 80 asylum seekers. There are no reports yet on TripAdvisor that our new compatriots are unhappy with their accommodation, unlike those at a Pimlico hotel in London, who refused to enter after complaining that they had to share with three other people. Are they serious?
How can these people, who come from a different country and many of whom have entered the country illegally, have their rights prioritised over the people already living and working here? Ironically, being the hotel industry, a great many of those who are losing their jobs will be other economic migrants, upon which the catering industry relies.
The next question arises as to where these people are ultimately going to be housed? We already have a significant housing crisis in the UK and Migration Watch has long been warning that the influx of immigrants is making this worse. It seems incredible that only this month the UK government is considering prioritising British citizens for housing. ‘Considering’, mind you, not promising and if the government record on any other ‘considerations’ regarding immigration is anything to go by, don’t expect action any time soon.
When luxury accommodation is allocated to asylum seekers who have, presumably, not vacated a five-star hotel in their own country, and thousands of whom we know arrive illegally, the situation is patently getting out of hand. The UK received 600,000 immigrants in 2022 and the influx continues. Where are we going to put them? At the very least we should not be kicking people out of their workplace as that will only add to the dole queues as well as infuriating the public.
The government is facing a huge problem and they need to do something about it. What happens when they run out of hotels? Will the middle-classes of suburbia who are so keen on mass immigration vacate their homes to free up more room? It’s doubtful. But I have an idea if you fancy a few weeks in a luxury spa in Wales…
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It isn’t just the jobs being lost in the hotels. It is the tourism lost and a reduction in local expenditure. Next it will be restaurants, entertainment and shops closing.
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