EXCLUSIVE: Joani Reid said it is “hardly a surprise” that hundreds of unemployed young men roaming the streets would cause community tensions.
A Scots Labour MP has blasted the “unmitigated disaster” of asylum hotels as she hit out at the SNP over local service cuts.
Joani Reid said it is “hardly a surprise” that hundreds of unemployed young men roaming the streets would cause community tensions.
She also hit out at the “coked-up yobbery” of far right activists who she accused of whipping up “hatred and division”.
Keir Starmer’s Labour Government is under huge pressure over the previous Tory policy of housing asylum seekers in hotels close to communities.
Protests have taken place across the UK, including in Perth and Falkirk, with critics claiming their local services are at breaking point.
Starmer has promised to abolish asylum hotels by 2029 and he is set to announce a fast track appeals system.
Reid, the Labour MP for East Kilbride and Strathaven, said locals are furious about the situation left behind by the Conservatives.
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She said: “Frankly, the use of these hotels for asylum accommodation has been an unmitigated disaster. It’s hardly a surprise that placing hundreds of unemployed young men, with nothing to do other than roam the streets in towns like East Kilbride, has led to a rise in community tensions.
In a swipe at the Scottish Government, which has been accused of running down local services, she said: “The SNP government has done nothing but offer a running commentary from the sidelines, even as they decimate local council funding. But the Labour Government is going to act.”
She said of the protests and wider concerns about asylum hotels: “Far right thugs have taken to streets across Britain, trying desperately to whip up hatred and division. They are the ugly face of the immigration debate – no decent person will want to be part of their coked-up yobbery.
“Yet I know the concerns run much deeper. Millions of ordinary people have been left angry and bewildered by the chaos in the immigration system and the community tensions it has festered.
“Under the previous Tory government, the whole immigration system reached the brink of collapse. As a Labour MP, I won’t rely on their failures as an excuse: I was elected to fix the problems our country faces. That’s why I am backing the Prime Minister’s decision to accelerate reforms to asylum.
“Refugees fleeing terror and torture deserve our protection. But economic migration only makes sense if it works for Britain too.
“That is why we need to process asylum applications faster and deport those who don’t qualify without delay. Speeding up processing will allow us to end the widespread use of hotels and create a fairer system for everyone.”
Fellow Labour MP Gregor Poynton said: “Having a controlled and fair Immigration and asylum system are one of the issues people in Scotland are most concerned about right now.
“We’ve seen that in recent protests outside hotels in Perth and Aberdeen. But we must be absolutely clear: targeting asylum seekers or their communities is wrong. Racism and bigotry have no place in Scotland.
“The chaos created under the Tories, with hundreds of hotels opened without support for local communities, destroyed trust in the system. Labour is taking a different approach – increasing returns, removing those with no right to be here, and cracking down on the criminal gangs running the small boats trade.
“I welcome the UK Government’s moves to streamline the appeals process for failed asylum claims. A system that is firm, fair, and efficient is vital to restore public confidence.
“Where local areas are asked to house significant numbers of asylum seekers, we should also look at whether there is a case for providing additional support to those communities.
“This UK Labour government is also committed to ending the use of all asylum hotels by the end of this parliament, and has already saved almost a billion pounds from the asylum hotel bill compared with the previous year.”
Official figures showed 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since records began in 2001.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said “completely unacceptable” delays in the appeals process leave failed asylum seekers in the system for years.
A proposed new system would see independent adjudicators, rather than judges, deal with appeals over asylum decisions.
There are about 51,000 asylum appeals waiting to be heard, taking on average more than a year to reach a decision.
Kaukab Stewart, Scottish Government Minister for Equalities, said:
“The Scottish Government firmly believes the UK Government must deliver a more effective and humane asylum system that treats people who may be highly vulnerable with dignity and respect.
“I am deeply concerned about some of the rhetoric we are seeing in the UK, which should have no place in our society. No one should have to fear they will be targeted for who they are and it is critical that everyone feels safe.
“The Scottish Government has provided councils with a record £15 billion this year, a real terms increase of 5.5%.”
Kaukab Stewart, Scottish Government Minister for Equalities, said: “The Scottish Government firmly believes the UK Government must deliver a more effective and humane asylum system that treats people who may be highly vulnerable with dignity and respect.
“I am deeply concerned about some of the rhetoric we are seeing in the UK, which should have no place in our society. No one should have to fear they will be targeted for who they are and it is critical that everyone feels safe.
“The Scottish Government has provided councils with a record £15 billion this year, a real terms increase of 5.5%.”
It comes as a new poll showed immigration is now a top priority for Scottish voters.
Some 21 per cent of Scots think immigration is one of the top three issues in the country, according to a poll by the David Hume Institute and the Diffley Partnership.
The figure was up from 16 per cent in May and just four per cent in May 2023.
The NHS (48 per cent) and the cost of living (37 per cent) are the only issues which were bigger priorities.
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