Angry Brits are signing a petition asking to cut asylum seeker spending, including making cuts to accommodation and cash support. This comes as the number of migrants living in hotels across the country stands at 32,000, with a further 70,000 being housed in other forms of accommodation. A whopping 321,460 people have signed the petition at the time of writing, which is 200,000 more than is required for Parliament to consider the topic for debate.
The government currently spends around £1.3billion on hotels for asylum seekers, which is three-quarters of all funds allocated to asylum accommodation between 2024-25, data from the National Audit Office (NAO) shows. Despite the Home Office forecasting in 2019 that its total spend on housing would be £4.5billion, the NAO’s revised figures now predict it to be £15.3billion.
The petition is to “advocate a cessation of financial and other support provided to asylum seekers by the Government”. This includes “shelter, food, medical care (including optical and dental), and cash support”.
The petition on the UK Government and Parliament website says “such provisions may inadvertently incentivise illegal migration, particularly via the English Channel”.
Last weekend, 1,195 asylum seekers crossed the Channel in 19 boats, which marks a new record for crossings in 2025.
“Being put up in tax-funded, comfortable accommodation while you await a decision, very likely to be positive, of course strengthens the magnet,” Alp Mehmet, the chairman of Migration Watch UK, explained to GB News.
He said that Britain becomes “irresistible, both to migrants and traffickers” due to the plush accommodation they receive on arrival, coupled with the small chance of being deported.
210 hotels remain in use for asylum seekers, which follows from their peak under the Conservatives, which stood at 400.
William Yarwood, media campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance echoed Mr Mehmet’s concerns, adding that the spending on asylum seekers has become “indefensible”.
“Taxpayers were promised this was temporary, yet the bill keeps climbing and the system remains broken,” he told the news channel.
The Home Office said: “We inherited an asylum system under exceptional pressure and we make no apologies for taking the necessary and immediate action to restore order, increasing asylum decision making and returning nearly 30,000 people with no right to be here.
“All Governments, of any party, have a legal obligation to support asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute.
“To reduce costs to taxpayers, we are accelerating asylum decision-making and ending the use of hotels over time.”