Minister for School Standards Georgia Gould struggled to defend the use of former military bases to house asylum seekers, repeatedly insisting the sites were “secure” even as GB News presenter Stephen Dixon pointed out that residents were free to come and go during the day.

Speaking to GB News, Ms Gould said the Government was recording the highest number of removals of people with no right to be in the UK since 2010, and was speeding up the processing of asylum claims. She said the Government remained committed to ending the use of hotels to house asylum seekers, following what she described as widespread public concern over the cost.

“Many, many people across the country have raised huge concerns about the cost of hotel bills,” she said. “The last Government used hotels to house people, and that’s not a good use of taxpayers’ money. This Government has made a commitment to end the use of hotels.”

Ms Gould said military bases were being considered as an alternative. “We need to look at other alternatives, including military bases that are secure accommodation and a more sustainable way of housing people while they go through the claims process,” she said, adding that the number of asylum hotels in operation had already fallen from a peak of around 400 to around 200. “We need to go further,” she said.

But pressed by Dixon on the “secure accommodation” description, Ms Gould struggled to give a straight answer. “It’s interesting you describe them as secure accommodation,” Dixon said, pointing out that the sites appeared to function as overnight housing rather than genuinely secure facilities, with residents free to leave and move around during the day.

Ms Gould insisted the bases were inherently safer than hotels. “Military bases, by their nature, are more secure, more contained accommodation,” she said. “There’s obviously security in place.”

Dixon pushed back directly: “Not secure when people can leave during the day?”

Ms Gould conceded that residents could come and go, but maintained the arrangement was tightly controlled. “There is, you know, a carefully monitored, secure situation, and more secure than a hotel,” she said, adding that the move would also cut costs for taxpayers. “I think that’s critically more affordable. So that’s the change we’re bringing in. I think it’s a really important one. It’s something that many people have asked for.”

Ms Gould’s comments come as the Government seeks to reduce its reliance on asylum hotels, cut the cost of accommodation, and speed up both the processing of asylum claims and the removal of people with no legal right to remain in the UK.