Clive Lewis: Labour criticises MP's 'concentration camp' comment

Labour has criticised one of its own MPs for comparing government plans to house asylum seekers in disused holiday parks to a "concentration camp" policy.

Clive Lewis told the BBC that "if you put a group of people concentrated into a camp - as you did in South Africa in the Boer War - it's what you call a concentration camp".

A Labour spokesman said the comments were "clearly not appropriate".

Downing Street has defended the proposals.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak set out plans on Tuesday to move migrants from hotels to disused holiday camps, former students halls and surplus military sites, while they wait for a decision on their asylum claim.

His official spokesman said Mr Lewis's claim was not an appropriate comparison and any accommodation would come with "the right levels of support".

A Labour spokesman said it would be a matter for the whips whether Mr Lewis should face disciplinary action.

Asked if leader Sir Keir Starmer would urge the Norwich South MP not to repeat the remarks, the spokesman said: "Yes."

Responding to the asylum housing plans on BBC Two's Politics Live, Mr Lewis said: "It's a concentration of people.... Look what they're talking about - putting people in camps en masse because of their [the government's] mess.

"Let's just be really clear where we are - that is the technical term for it, a concentration of people in a camp."

Former Conservative minister Damian Green, who was also appearing on the show, described the comments as "ridiculous".

Mr Sunak unveiled plans to tackle the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats and the backlog of asylum cases in the Commons on Tuesday.

He said the government was spending £5.5m a day on housing asylum seekers in hotels.

The asylum backlog has ballooned in recent years, with 117,000 outstanding claims, relating to 143,377 people, who are waiting for an initial decision on their application and unable to work. Of these, nearly 100,000 people have been waiting more than six months.

The government has pledged to clear the backlog of initial asylum claims made up to 28 June by the end of next year.