Labour risks further unrest with asylum seeker decision

If there is a golden thread running through British politics, it is saving the Treasury money. The latest case in point is Labour’s extraordinary decision on housing asylum seekers.
Yvette Cooper has apparently ordered the Home Office to start seeking out “homes of multiple occupancy, family properties, former care homes and student accommodation”. Doing this would, undoubtedly, save the Treasury money. Building a proper, purpose-built asylum estate is expensive, and retrofitting ex-military bases not much less so. Hotels were cheaper, which is why ministers kept using them.