Think Rylan is right about asylum-seekers? So does Tommy Robinson…

The TV presenter divided opinion by saying live on This Morning that it is ‘insane’ that illegal migrants are put up in hotels – but when the far right’s most notorious poster boy comes out in your favour, it’s probably time to reconsider your position, says Sharan Dhaliwal

When the This Morning presenter Rylan Clark shared his thoughts about asylum seekers live on air, fingers in the ITV production studio will surely have been hovering nervously over the kill switch. Because what came out amounts to a tirade – I found his comment to be misinformed, exaggerated and, quite frankly, incorrect.

During a discussion about Nigel Farage’s hardline immigration plan unveiled this week, the former star of The X Factor said it was “insane” that illegal migrants were being put up in hotels, and that there was “something wrong” in the way refugees are welcomed into the UK: “This is the narrative we’re being fed: Here’s the hotel, here’s the phones, here’s the iPad, here’s the NHS in reception of your hotel. Here’s three meals a day, here’s a games room in the hotel. Have a lovely time – and welcome…”

Barely pausing for breath, he added: “This isn’t me getting on my soapbox.” It wasn’t the only statement he made that was incorrect.

I watched with my jaw dropping as every new line came out of Rylan’s mouth. Let’s take them one by one and, in exposing the myths, show what kind of welcome migrants to the UK actually receive.

“Here’s the hotel…"? Asylum seekers who land on beaches in Kent are quickly taken to temporary accommodation with no choice as to where they stay.

“Here’s the phones…”? Asylum seekers are not routinely provided with phones by the Home Office, although sometimes charities give out reconditioned handsets to those who need to communicate with people back home, lawyers or refugee charities. But at no point is taxpayers’ money used to pay for phones.

“Here’s an iPad…”? Asylum seekers are not given iPads.

“Here’s the NHS in the reception of your hotel…”? Healthcare in Britain is free at the point of use and given to anyone who needs it. In that regard, asylum seekers are no different from the rest of us. We all have access to NHS healthcare and, like us, they will sit for hours in a waiting room before being seen and offered treatment. It is untrue to imply there are dedicated NHS services set up in the receptions of asylum hotels.

And surely the issue here isn’t that refugees have access to free healthcare, it’s that the NHS is underfunded. We need to stop blaming asylum-seekers for this.

But it was when Rylan said: "I find it absolutely insane that all these people are risking their lives coming across the Channel like they are,” that I realised what he really meant: he thinks asylum seekers choose to risk their lives, and the lives of their children, to come to the UK. You only have to think of Alan Kurdi, the two-year-old who made international headlines a decade ago, after his body was found face down on a Turkish beach after trying to escape war in Syria, to know that crossing the Channel for the chance of a better life in Britain is no choice at all.

The one thing Rylan said that was right was: “I believe something major needs to be done about this.” I agree, given the un-welcome that awaits refugees seeking asylum – in part, a hangover from when Theresa May instigated the Home Office’s “hostile environment policy” aimed at making the UK a more difficult place for illegal immigrants – and the lack of an adequate plan to house them.

And while Rylan claims the rise in immigration is costing taxpayers money, what he may not be aware of is the billions that the privatisation of refugee accommodation is making for three Home Office contractors. In 2019, Clearsprings, Mears and Serco were invited by the Conservative government to handle all asylum-housing needs; a report published in May said that between September 2019 and August 2024, they made a combined profit of £383m.

It is lazy to go on national TV and say things that aren’t fact-checked. It is misinformation – and scare-mongering. Unfortunately, many people will believe what Rylan has said. After coming in for criticism for his diatribe, Rylan defended his remarks, saying: “You can be pro-immigration and against illegal routes.”

But when you provoke a social media storm and Tommy Robinson comes out in your support, saying: “Rylan speaking the most common sense ever spoken on ITV’s ‘This Morning’”, maybe it’s time to hit that kill switch after all.