Policing minister Chris Philp has insisted Manston migrant centre is legally compliant just days after immigration minister Robert Jenrick suggested the opposite.
“I don’t accept the premise that it is not legally compliant today, a lot of change has been made even in the last few days since you spoke to Robert,” he told Sky News, contending that “significant improvements” have been set in motion.
It comes after 11 asylum seekers were reportedly left “abandoned” in central London without accommodation or warm clothing after being taken from the Manston processing centre.
Mr Philip told the broadcaster that the Home Office had assured him that the people told immigration officials at Manston they had the addresses of “friends and family” to go to.
“Clearly that understanding was not accurate, quite how that misunderstanding arose, maybe it was lost in translation, I don’t know, but clearly they have now all been looked after,” he said.
Westminster city council Labour leader Adam Hug said “clearly there has been a breakdown in communication”, which meant those bussed in from Manston with wristbands and Home Office paperwork “were not being dealt with properly”.
