Home Secretary slammed for not visiting Hove Home Office hotel

Suella Braverman was in Brighton on Thursday to see how Sussex Police have cracked down on antisocial behaviour in the city. Her visit included a trip to The Level.

However, the Home Office confirmed that she did not visit a hotel in Hove from where 76 children seeking asylum in the UK have gone missing. MP Peter Kyle has raised concerns that they may have been coerced into crime.

Mr Kyle, who represents Hove and Portslade, said he was surprised that the Home Secretary would not visit the hotel while she was in the city.

He said: “It’s staggering that in the days after the practice of placing unaccompanied minors in a Hove hotel was exposed, that the Home Secretary - the very person responsible for doing this - visits the city and doesn’t think to visit the hotel.

“Is she so cold and uncaring that she didn’t think it appropriate to see for herself how her hotels are run?

“I would have happily taken her to visit the hotel and explained why children should not be placed unaccompanied in a hotel.”

Peter Kyle said he would have taken the Home Secretary to visit the hotel in Hove (Image: Newsquest)

Councillor Hannah Allbrooke, deputy leader for Brighton and Hove City Council, said the council had not been told about the Home Secretary’s visit in advance.

She said she would have welcomed a meeting with Ms Braverman and accused her of “abdicating responsibility” for the unaccompanied asylum-seeking children being housed in the hotel in the city and in other hotels across the country.

She said: “The Home Office has repeatedly attempted to abdicate responsibility for those children, including those who have subsequently gone missing under their watch.

“We continue to be concerned about the lack of regulation and oversight from her department, let alone accountability.

“The Home Secretary’s treatment of refugees and avoidance of responsibility is a shameful display of this Tory government’s hostile environment. Refugees need safety and support - Home Office hotels do not provide this.

“We will continue to challenge the government to end the use of hotel accommodation for all refugees and to introduce safe routes of arrival to this country and stable, safe accommodation once here.”

Home Secretary Suella Braverman met Chief Constable Jo Shiner, left, and Inspector James Ward, right (Image: Sussex Police)

As part of her visit, Ms Braverman met Sussex Police Chief Constable Jo Shiner and Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne to learn more about the force’s hotspot policing approach.

During her trip to The Level, the Home Secretary was told that an increased police presence in the area had cut antisocial behaviour by 55 per cent, violent crime by 34 per cent and sexual offences by 75 per cent.

• READ MORE: Home Secretary avoids question on migrant Channel crossings on Brighton visit

Bella Sankey, former director of refugee charity Detention Action and Labour councillor for Wish ward in Hove, also criticised the Home Secretary for not visiting the hotel and slammed government cuts to community policing over the past decade.

She said: “For her to visit our city to claim credit for crime fighting being done in spite of her policies, not because of them, is brass-necked indeed.

“If Suella Braverman wants to bring down crime, she must stop abandoning children in our community and properly resource our local services to keep us all safe.”

Suella Braverman visited The Level on her visit to Brighton earlier this week (Image: Sussex PCC)

In a post on Twitter after her visit to Brighton, Ms Braverman said: “Antisocial behaviour is a blight on our communities and can leave people feeling unsafe.

“I was in Brighton where hotspot police patrols by Sussex Police have seen a 55 per cent drop in antisocial behaviour.

“I am committed to tackling antisocial behaviour and we are looking at further ways to ensure the law-abiding majority feel safe in their communities.”

A Home Office spokesman confirmed that Suella Braverman did not visit the hotel and was in Brighton for “a policing visit”.