Mothballed detention centres to reopen

TWO mothballed detention centres for illegal immigrants and foreign criminals will reopen next year.

The Home Office wants to use the secure sites again as it attempts to get a grip on the illegal migration crisis by deporting more people with no right to live in the UK.

The news came as it emerged that some migrants have been put up in the grand surroundings of Stoke Rochford Hall, a stately home and wedding venue near Margaret Thatcher’s birthplace of Grantham. Rooms, which can cost up to £200 a night, are filled with arrivals from Afghanistan, Albania, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan, the Telegraph reported.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick wrote to MPs yesterday about proposals to put Campsfield House, Oxfordshire, and Haslar in Hampshire back into service. Downing Street said: ‘These facilities... will play an important role in efforts to control our borders... and ensure people going through our asylum system are treated with compassion...’

Lib Dem Layla Moran said she would oppose the reopening of Campsfield House in her constituency. It closed in 2018 after being dogged by riots, hunger strikes and escapes.