Elon Musk has ridiculed Sir Keir Starmer after it emerged new-build homes are being reserved for migrants in a village where many locals struggle to get on the property ladder.
The decision to use four £300,000 three-bedroom houses in Suffolk as migrant accommodation has prompted fury at a time when Labour claims to be getting tough on immigration.
Tesla founder Mr Musk has now taken to X to share his view by posting a link to the Mail’s coverage alongside the comment: ‘This must stop now.’
It comes as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper prepares to face MPs today to give a statement on Labour’s immigration policy as the government desperately tries to keep a lid on fury about Channel boats and asylum hotels.
Her Cabinet colleague Bridget Phillipson fuelled anger yesterday by defending deploying government lawyers to keep an asylum hotel in Epping open, saying the rights of arrivals trumped those of local residents.
Despite overseeing record numbers of crossings from France this year, Ms Cooper will claim this afternoon that Labour’s plans are already working. She will pledge to press ahead with a shake-up of the asylum appeals process, which currently takes a year on average.
A new panel will prioritise cases involving foreign criminals and migrants living in hotels, with the aim of halving times to less than 24 weeks. She is also expected to make it harder for refugees to bring family members to this country.
However, shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has insisted the reforms merely ‘tinker around the edges’ and do not do enough to deter migrants from coming to Britain by illegal routes.
The Suffolk homes that attracted the attention of Mr Musk are being leased by public services firm Serco under a contract with the Home Office.
The conjoined properties are furnished with en-suite bathrooms, sleek kitchens and state-of-the-art amenities including underfloor heating and electric vehicle charging points.
According to promotional materials, the homes are ‘nestled in the tranquil and sought-after village’ and ‘designed for modern living and comfort, providing ample space and eco-friendly amenities’.
Representing ‘a perfect blend of modern design, comfort, and sustainability’, the houses are said to offer ‘a serene living experience’.
The sales brochure concludes: ‘With their eco-friendly features and thoughtful amenities, these properties are an ideal choice for those looking to embrace a green lifestyle in a peaceful, community-oriented location.’
Asylum seekers living in the properties are doing so rent-free – with expected rent in the area coming in at around £1,200 for a home of this size.
It is believed that only one family has moved into the townhouses so far, and that they arrived by a legal route, not on a small boat.
While the decision to use the townhouses to accommodate migrants was hailed as a success by one local councillor, who claimed the community had responded ‘very positively’, the reaction of locals appears to tell another story.
One complained that many people were struggling to get on the property ladder but were overlooked by the local authorities.
Others questioned why the homes were not offered to locals on the housing list – although the government does have a legal requirement to accommodate asylum seekers while they have their claims processed.
According to the latest data from Suffolk County Council, there were nearly 800 people waiting to apply for council or housing association homes in 2024.
Today, Ms Cooper will seek to assuage anger over the use of hotels and private accommodation to house Channel migrants by unveiling changes designed to bring ‘greater fairness and balance’.
She will blame the last Conservative Government for leaving the system in ‘chaos and disarray’, and warn that the current Government is facing ‘complex challenges [which] require sustainable and workable solutions, not fantasy promises which can’t be delivered’.
‘Britain has a proud record of giving sanctuary to those fleeing persecution, including in recent years from Ukraine and Hong Kong, and we must do more to help students from Gaza,’ she will say. ‘But the whole system needs to be properly controlled and managed, so the rules are respected and enforced, and so governments, not criminal gangs, decide who comes to the UK.’
There is speculation that Ms Cooper will also update MPs on her review of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) – with Reform demanding the UK withdraws from the treaty so the asylum system can be toughened.
The Court of Appeal will hand down its full written judgement in the Bell Hotel case later today.
The Government and the hotel’s owner last week succeeded in overturning an interim injunction which would have required asylum seekers to be removed from the site.
Epping Forest District Council, which applied for the injunction, is considering taking the case to the Supreme Court.
Protests continued in Epping last night, with police arresting three people.
Around 200 demonstrators gathered outside the council building on Sunday evening, where a woman climbed the steps and unfurled a Union flag.
Yesterday, Bridget Phillipson defended the claim that the rights of asylum seekers were more important than those of local families living near hotels.
She told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme: ‘I completely understand why many people in places like Epping, where hotels have opened up, feel incredibly frustrated about that.
‘They have a right to demonstrate lawfully and peacefully. But it crosses a line that isn’t consistent with our long-standing traditions in this country of respect for the rule of law, respect for the police and our responsibility to make sure that we have safe communities for everybody living there.’
Chris Philp dismissed plans to tighten rules on those granted asylum bringing family members to the UK as a ‘tiny tweak’.
‘I’m afraid the truth is this is a tiny tweak that will make very little difference,’ the shadow Home Secretary told BBC Breakfast.
He said the Government was ‘in complete denial’ about the scale of the ‘borders crisis’.
Serco has been approached for comment.