Oral Answers to Questions

Neil Hudson Excerpts

Wednesday 4th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am delighted that Aldershot will be hosting Armed Forces Day; it has a hard-working Labour MP and Labour council. Our historic defence spending uplift must be an engine for growth and jobs in the United Kingdom, which is why we have committed to spending an extra £2.5 billion with small and medium-sized enterprises. I agree with my hon. Friend that it is vital that we work in lockstep with our allies, particularly in Europe, to enhance and align our defence capabilities, and we are therefore working at pace to identify the most effective mechanisms for greater multilateral co-operation.

[Dr Neil Hudson (Epping Forest) (Con)]

Q8. For months, our communities in Epping have been deeply distressed by the Bell hotel reopening as an asylum hotel. My thoughts remain with the victims of the sexual assaults, including the 14-year-old Epping schoolgirl whose trauma was compounded by the mistaken release of the offender from prison. Weekly protests continue, some of which have become violent, with injuries to 10 brave police officers. I am grateful to the Minister for Border Security and Asylum for meeting me recently about this untenable situation, but will the Prime Minister listen and act now, close the Bell hotel once and for all, and help restore our town of Epping?

[The Prime Minister]

As the hon. Gentleman knows, we are committed to ending the use of all asylum hotels; there are now just under 200, compared with the 400 under the previous Government. Where military sites are used, the safety and security of local communities is our priority.