Moment council meeting descends into chaos as locals are told migrants ‘will be given private healthcare’ despite ‘very stretched’ services_Nhy
A council meeting descended into chaos after locals were told hundreds of illegal migrants staying at a hotel could soon be getting access to free private healthcare.
The bombshell accusation was made during a fiery public meeting of Trafford Council, in Greater Manchester, sparking an outcry of anger from local residents.
Nathan Evans, Conservative group leader at the council, claimed asylum seekers housed at the Cresta Court Hotel in Altrincham had been contracted to a private ‘doctors’ system’.
It comes after the hotel was abruptly converted into migrant accommodation for some 300 men, with the news only coming to light after thousands of bookings – including some wedding receptions – were cancelled without warning.
Speaking at a church meeting about the fiasco, worried locals voiced their fears about the migrants at the hotel and the impact they would have on the area’s ‘stretched’ health services.
‘They’re contracted with… a private doctors’ system,’ Councillor Evans told residents. ‘[That’s what] my understanding is. It’s not a statement of fact. That should mean they won’t be putting weight on our local [health services].’
Migrants are pictured outside the Cresta Court Hotel in Altrincham, near Manchester
Residents are up in arms over claims asylum seekers would get access to private health care (pictured are locals discussing the situation at a church meeting last week)
Nathan Evans (pictured), Conservative group leader at Trafford Council, claimed a contract had been taken out to provide private health care for migrants
Government insiders have disputed the claims, telling MailOnline it was a ‘legal requirement’ for migrants to receive healthcare treatment.
A Home Office source insisted asylum seekers were not getting ‘private health care’ but a ‘standard service’.
Footage of last week’s meeting has since been shared online.
Cllr Evans claimed he found out last week that the healthcare plan for migrants had been contracted out – as the Tory chief accused the Labour government of a ‘wall of silence’ over the situation.
It comes as Labour said it would stop hotels being used to house asylum seekers – although Cresta Court Hotel’s use is ‘newly created’, according to Sky News.
In the meeting, Cllr Evans went on to say he did not support housing single male migrants at the hotel, but that it ‘keeps them out of our doctors’ surgeries.
‘We just had our Minor Injuries Unit at Altrincham Hospital closed. We’ve now 300 people on our doorstep,’ he told Express.co.uk.
‘My understanding is that they are taking out a contract to support these people. Meanwhile, people here can’t get a doctor’s appointment.’
Some 300 migrants are reportedly staying at the Cresta Court Hotel in Altrincham
Worried Trafford residents voiced their fears about the take over of the hotel. Pictured is Councillor Nathan Evans speaking next to community leaders and local police
He added residents had been stonewalled by Whitehall, and claimed the move to house hundreds of migrants in the hotel had been a ‘ministerial decision’.
‘It’s not like this has happened by accident. Someone took this decision. People are worried about it,’ he said.
‘Residents don’t want them at the hotel, right in the centre of the town.’
Young men thought to be asylum seekers were pictured earlier this week gathering in the hotel car park, smoking and drinking coffee.
The decision to move migrants into Cresta Court has sparked a fierce debate locally.
During the church meeting, residents raised their fears about safety and blasted an ‘information vacuum’ and lack of prior consultation about the hotel’s conversion.
One woman, her voice shaking, questioned whether the hotel was ‘effectively an open prison’ near several local girls’ schools and a nursery, reported GB News.
She added she had already cancelled a night out with friends over safety worries.
Another person expressed concerns about her daughter’s safety at night, suggesting the men came from a country that ‘doesn’t value women’.
Residents attending the meeting expressed their safety fears about the migrants at the hotel
Cllr Evans (pictured left) said there had been a ‘wall of silence’ from the Government over the situation
Gwyneth Roper, who hosted the church meeting, reportedly said: ‘I can’t say I agree or disagree with what’s going on because we’ve just been kept in the dark and treated like mushrooms.’
While one resident asked if there would be a curfew or whether the migrants would be free to wander around after 7pm.
Community police officer Colin Dytor, in comments quoted by Sky News, said: ‘We can’t just lock people up who haven’t committed a crime. We live in a very tolerant and open society, and we have to continue that.’
Connor Rand, Labour MP for Altrincham and Sale West, added that background checks had been conducted on the men by the Home Office.
A spokesman for Serco – which runs the hotel – claimed ‘no decision’ had been taken on ‘how healthcare will be provided to those’ at the site.
A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘This government inherited an asylum system under unprecedented strain, with thousands stuck in a backlog without their claims processed.
‘We have taken immediate action to restart asylum processing which will save an estimated £7billion for the tax payer over the next 10 years, and are delivering a major uplift in returns to remove people with no right to be in the UK. Over the long term this will reduce our reliance on hotels and costs of accommodation.
‘We remain absolutely committed to ending the use of hotels for asylum seekers and continue to identify a range of accommodation options to minimise their use.’
MailOnline has approached the Government and Trafford Council for further comment.
