Starmer’s plan to house asylum seekers on MoD land

The Ministry of Defence and the Home Office have already found places where the temporary homes could be erected quickly.

“Land has been identified by the MoD,” one Whitehall source said. “All options are being assessed.”

The proposal is one of the ideas being considered by a new taskforce set up last week to drive through the government’s promise to close the asylum hotels. Similar to the vaccine taskforce, which oversaw the rollout of jabs during the pandemic, it will bring together ministers, businesses and local authorities to find solutions.

Shabana Mahmood, the new home secretary, is determined to think imaginatively about how to tackle illegal immigration. “Nothing will be off the table,” one ally said.

Darren Jones, the prime minister’s new chief secretary, is also said to be open to radical ideas, which could include installing mobile units, similar to the Nightingale hospitals created during the pandemic.

Last week Keir Starmer promised to go “further and faster” to tackle illegal immigration, including bringing forward the 2029 deadline for closing the hotels.

Photograph by Tolga Akmen/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images