Badenoch suggests asylum seekers should be housed in 'Nightingale' camps

Kemi Badenoch has said asylum seekers should be housed in camps which could be policed, instead of in hotels.

Having made the initial suggestion earlier on Monday, Ms Badenoch double down later in the week - and suggested the detention centres could be built like Nightingale pop-up hospitals were during the pandemic. She said: "We need to process people in detention centres.

"We need to build proper camps where we keep people safe, whether they are migrants or the local communities. "But just having people who can stay in a hotel, go out and come as they please, whether or not they're criminals, we have no idea who these people are - I don't think that that's right and it's gone on long enough." Politics live: Major small boats milestone could be confirmed The leader of the Conservatives had spoken to communities about immigration in Epping, Essex, following multiple protests at a hotel in the town alleged to be housing asylum seekers.

During her visit on Monday, Ms Badenoch sat down with local residents at the Black Lion Pub to discuss their concerns - and appeared to propose housing migrants in "camps". 'Nightingale' camps? The leader of the opposition said: "Is it possible for us to set up camps and police that, rather than bringing all of this hassle into communities? "As a party, we need to also hear from the community about what you think the solutions are.

We don't have all the answers; it's important that we make sure that the community is part of the problem solved." Asked on Tuesday about her comments - and how these camps could take shape - Ms Badenoch said: "I remember during COVID when we were able to build Nightingale hospitals very quickly - there are examples of how we've done this before. "So that's not where I am an expert at, what we need is the government to actually get the people who are experts to figure out what the solution can look like.

It can be done." Epping has seen numerous protests against mass immigration held outside the town's The Bell Hotel, some of which have turned violent. Local politicians have called on the government to shut the hotel.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage also accused Essex Police of "bussing in" counter-protesters, claims which the force called "categorically wrong". Addressing the protests, Ms Badenoch said there is a "big difference" between local communities protesting "about something that's happening in their midst" and what she termed "professional protesters - who turn up at lots of different events".

The Tory leader said these are "not equivalent" and seemed to imply local people should have a priority over those travelling to protest. She said: "This is your home, this is your community, and that in my view is quite important.

People should have some kind of precedence in their own communities versus other people randomly passing through, otherwise we start to change the nature of what protest is." Ms Badenoch also alleged that "people now use protest as a cover for troublemaking"..