The Times’ “Perfectly Polite” Asylum Hotel Was Slammed by Labour Council And Suffered Scabies Outbreak – Guido Fawkes

The Times’ “Perfectly Polite” Asylum Hotel Was Slammed by Labour Council And Suffered Scabies Outbreak

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Interesting headline in The Times this morning: “Asylum seekers in our town? They’re no problem and perfectly polite”. The story continues: “Locals in Altrincham were worried when a hotel was booked out to house asylum seekers. Four months later, they are not bothered by their new neighbours.” Sounds good…

On closer inspection, The Times‘ take is a little different to recent media reporting about the troubled Altrincham asylum contract, which saw the Cresta Court Hotel turned into accommodation for around 300 asylum seekers last year. Back in December, the Mail reported that hundreds of the asylum seekers in the same Altrincham hotel had been quarantined after…an outbreak of scabies. A spokesperson from Serco, which runs the asylum contract, said at the time: “All of the necessary steps are being taken in line with NHS recommendations to stop the spread and anyone experiencing symptoms is being asked to see a GP who is at the hotel. Additionally all movement has been stopped in and out of the hotel during the outbreak to prevent the disease spreading further.” Ah…

The same newspaper reported the fury of local residents whose bookings were cancelled to make way for the plan when it was announced in November. Even the Labour leader of Trafford council was worried, saying he had: “serious concerns regarding the location and the potential pressures on local services it could create”. Amusingly, the hotel is partially owned by former BBC big wig Greg Dyke. None of which, of course, made it into the report about the positives of the Cresta Court Hotel. A tale of two cities…