Blackpool MP declares victory after as asylum seekers to leave Metropole Hotel

Blackpool South MP Chris Webb has declared victory after he was given personal Home Office confirmation that asylum seekers are to leave the town’s Metropole Hotel by July.

Mr Webb said it was good news for Blackpool after an original pledge that the migrants would only stay three months led to them being housed there for almost five years.

The locally-listed seafront hotel, owned by Britannia Hotels, has been used to house asylum seekers since September 2021 and Mr Webb has been a long-standing opponent of its use for migrant families, frequently urging the Home Office to close it.

Mr Webb said today: “When I became the MP I made a promise to local residents that I would get this asylum hotel closed and today I can announce to Blackpool residents that this will be closing in three months.

“It’s been hard work, I’ve been lobbying the Government constantly since I became an MP and even the previous Government, when I was there for just three weeks before the general election.

“It’s been a long campaign, thousands of residents have signed my petition, countless meetings with the Home Secretary and ministers and letters to the Home Office, but I’m delighted to say this will be closed within three months.

“So we know from individuals who have come to us that conditions in there are really bad, we know that sewage has come up through the floor, sewage has come up in the rooms, and at the end of the day these are predominately families, the majority of them are children.

“That is not a place a place fit for children waiting in cramped in small bedrooms. So whatever you think of our asylum policy, there are kids in there that have fled Afghanistan, Syria, war-torn countries. So we’ve got to have some decency there.

“So we need to make sure they’re in suitable accommodation that is fit, whilst they’re waiting for their claims to be processed. We’re now processing quicker than we’ve ever done, we’re increasing it every single day, decisions are now outweighing claims for the first time in a very long time, because of the backlog we inherited.

“What we need to do now is make sure they’re getting into suitable accommodation outside of Blackpool and I want to be key – there’s been a lot of rumours going around that there’ll be another hotel or more housing.

“That is completely false, the individuals in there will be sent to other locations on SERCO sites across the country or in new-build military bases.

He added: “My case has been all along that we were told they would only be here for three months, back in 2021.

“Myself and many others condemned that at the time,  but we understood for three months. It’s now 2026 and it is finally closing.

“Blackpool has done its fair share. We are the most deprived area, the hotel here has put strains on local GPs, strains on the hospital, strains on local services.

“It has brought some benefits. Different communities here in Blackpool within the schools, children have learnt about different communities, different religions, different backgrounds that they would never have learnt before, and that has been  positive.But it has put a strain on services.”

Mr Webb said that he would now be reaching out to Britannia to restore the Metropole to its former glory.

The Home Office said earlier this week that eleven asylum hotels – not including the Metropole at that stage – had been closed and given back to local communities.

It added: “Multiple more are set to close in the coming weeks, as the Government ramps up action to end the use of hotels for illegal migrants.

“The closures form part of the Government’s efforts to fix the broken asylum system – tackling the immediate pressure of hotel use while driving longer‑term reform through faster asylum decisions, higher removals, and tougher enforcement.”