Kemi Badenoch has been warned over her plan to end council housing for foreign nationals by a Labour border minister.
Speaking to GB News, the Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum, Anna Turley, described the policy as “dangerous and attention-seeking”.
The Conservative leader announced her plan to move nearly 230,000 non-EU foreign national households out of council homes to open them up for British families.
She said that migrants from any country, including EU member states, would also be barred from taking on new social housing tenancies if the Tories win the next General Election.
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“The reality is that the only people who can access social housing are people who genuinely have a right to be here,” Ms Turley began.
“They are settled, they are claiming citizenship. So I think it’s important that they are actually integrating into our communities, that they are part of society, and it’s important that we’re able to do that.”
The borders minister also warned that booting those people out of social housing would spark a rough sleeping crisis.
“The danger of this sort of policy that just seems to be to gain attention could drive up even more homelessness on our streets, which the Prime Minister is absolutely determined to crack down on.
“Look at the rise in homelessness under the last Tory government. It absolutely escalated,” she noted.
Ms Turley also acknowledged that more needed to be done to address “pull factors” that were attracting migrants to Britain.
“We are completely in agreement about dealing with the pull factors that people are, you know, think are bringing them here.
“That’s why we’re cracking down with record levels on illegal working when it comes to housing.
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“No asylum seekers are eligible for social housing,” she insisted.
“As we’ve seen from the situation in Norfolk, they are going to be housed in military bases, in places where we can contain people and protect our communities. That is the process.”
However, GB News’s Ellie Costello also grilled Ms Turley on Labour’s handling of the small boats crisis.
“There have been no boats that have arrived so far today, and we are proud of the numbers that are coming down.
“They have come down substantially since we’ve come to power because of the disruption that we’ve put in both the supply chain, going right back across the world from where these dinghies are built.
“The message should go out strongly to people that it is not worth risking your life. We are building safe and legal routes for those who do have a right to claim asylum in this country, and it’s important that we enforce them.
“But we’ve got to keep bearing down on the boats. We’ve made good progress so far, and I’m pleased with the figures.
“But we’ve got to get to a point where nobody thinks it’s acceptable and nobody is able to cross the channel on a small boat,” the Labour borders minister stressed.
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