by A Conservative MP was asked to apologize after going on TV and appointing a hotel in his constituency where asylum seekers will be housed.
Jonathan Gullis, who made the comments 48 hours after a fire bomb attack on an immigration center, was accused by opposition lawmakers of “encouraging” those who would try to harm migrants.
Mr Gullis, a former minister, said the migrants “came to the UK for no reason” while announcing where his constituents could find them. In fact, data from the government itself shows that the overwhelming majority seek asylum, with a majority accepted as a legitimate refugee.
In the same appearance on Channel 4 News on Monday night, the Stoke MP complained about the number of people housed in his constituency.
“The Minister of the Interior has made it clear that he has sought hotel accommodation. But let’s be honest, the British people are not happy with that,” he said.
“This is a totally unacceptable situation for people, particularly in places like Stoke on Trent, which is the fifth largest contributor to the asylum dispersion program in his country, where we already have over 800 people in our city.”
Mr. Gullis then named a hotel where 80 other people would be housed and said the local police and council were against.
Far-right groups have targeted hotels used in the past to house asylum seekers and on Saturday morning a man dropped explosive bombs attached to fireworks at a migrant treatment center in Dover.
Gullis’ comments come amid concern that government rhetoric could endanger people and foment hatred.
Liberal Democrats spokesperson for home affairs Alistair Carmichael said the MP’s comments were part of a “determined and orchestrated campaign to demonize asylum seekers”.
“Jonathan Gullis should apologize but he probably won’t. If he had some decency, he wouldn’t have said it in the first place, “said Mr. Carmichael.
“These things are not said by chance. It is part of a determined and orchestrated campaign to demonize asylum seekers in the end for no better reason than the fact that they are “different”.
“It is not the Jonathan Gullises or Suella Bravermans of this world who are dropping bombs or attacking people on the street, but the opinions they express encourage others who might.”
Carmichael added: “We need a reasoned and rational debate on these issues. One that is based on facts and not on exaggerated rhetoric.
“This morning we should talk about the inability of conservatives to process more than 4 percent of asylum applications last year.
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“We should be talking about Suella Braverman’s incompetence and not her attention-seeking and hateful rhetoric.”
Mr. Gullis’ decision to name the hotel comes when Interior Minister Suella Braverman denounced an “invasion” of people arriving on the shores of Britain to seek asylum.
In a Council statement, Ms. Braverman on Monday dismissed claims that she had deliberately blocked the use of hotels to ease pressure on a processing facility in Manston.
About 4,000 people are detained at the former RAF base, which is designed to house only 1,600 people on a temporary basis. Prison inspectors warned that the situation at the center has “significantly worsened” in recent weeks, even after a highly critical inspection.
The situation worsened again this weekend after hundreds of people were moved to the center from the other location attacked by firebombs.
Asked about Gullis ‘comment during a regular journalists’ briefing in Westminster, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “It is important that the people who come here are treated with compassion, dignity and respect. I am not aware of that specific incident. Obviously, we will not try to do anything that puts people at risk ”.
