MP speaks following community meeting on asylum seekers

Mr Rand shared the news at the end of October that a hotel in Altrincham, which has now been named as the Cresta Court Hotel on Church Street, would be used for the asylum seekers.

The news has caused division in the town, which led to a meeting being held at Altrincham Methodist Church on Thursday, November 7, which was attended by Mr Rand, as well as community leaders and residents.

Now, the Labour MP has shared a statement following the meeting.

300 asylum seekers are currently staying at the Cresta Court Hotel (Image: Google Maps)

Mr Rand said: "My priority is to actively engage with local groups and residents that have any questions or concerns about Cresta Court, provide as much information as I can and try to bring people together, working with the police, the hotel, the council and other service providers.

"That’s why I organised last Thursday’s public meeting, which over 100 people attended to share their views. 

"As residents will know, this is not the first time a hotel in our community has needed to be used for this purpose.

"This is a result of the huge backlog that has developed in our asylum system over the last 14 years, with the number of asylum seekers waiting for a decision on their claim increasing from 19,000 to almost 119,000.

"Labour is committed to a fair and controlled asylum system and work is underway to clear the asylum backlog and end the use of hotels for this purpose.

"The government has taken immediate action to restart asylum processing and is delivering a major uplift in returns to remove people with no right to be in the UK, but there are no quick fixes.

Connor Rand was elected as the MP for Altrincham and Sale West in July's general election (Image: Parliament)

"In the meantime, I will continue to meet with Home Office officials and Ministers to do everything I can to push for the claims of those in the Cresta Court Hotel to be processed as quickly as possible, so the hotel can be stood down and this situation resolved."

In a statement, the chair of Reform UK's Altrincham and Sale West branch, Paul Swansborough, said: "While I completely understand the concerns of residents about the potential risk to public safety, we must entrust the home office to put in place the correct measures to safeguard everyone.

"My greatest concern, personally, is the impact this process will have on our public services in Trafford, which are already under huge pressure.

"Rest assured, our group of Reform UK MPs will be pushing the government for additional support to the police and our NHS trusts in Greater Manchester."

Best Western Hotels, which owns the Cresta Court Hotel, has been approached for comment.