Migrants who cross the Channel in small boats could be moved to warehouses as Labour scrambles to close asylum hotels, the Home Secretary suggested today.

Yvette Cooper said the Government was looking at ‘military and industrial sites’ as ‘more appropriate’ places to house asylum seekers.

She added that warehouses were ‘one of the things that’s been looked at’ in her attempts to cut the bill to taxpayers from housing small boat arrivals in hotels.

It came ahead of Sir Keir Starmer holding an emergency meeting this afternoon on Government action to go ‘further and faster’ in tackling Channel migrant crossings.

Ahead of the meeting, Downing Street said ministers would hold talks on ‘better forms of accommodation’ as they look to speed up the closure of asylum hotels.

The PM’s official spokesman said the Government was looking at ‘all viable options’ for housing migrants, following recent protests outside asylum hotels across Britain.

He said this included ‘using modular buildings on industrial sites [and] ex-military sites’, adding that ‘modular buildings’ were those that could be ‘scaled up at pace’.

No10 also said the Government ‘fully’ expects migrants to be returned across the Channel this month as a result of Sir Keir’s ‘one in, one out’ deal with France.

Ms Cooper had earlier failed to guarantee that Channel migrants will definitely start being deported this month under the UK-France agreement.

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Migrants who cross the Channel in small boats could be moved to warehouses as Labour scrambles to close asylum hotels, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has suggested

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People swim to try and board a dinghy in the English Channel near Gravelines, northern France

Speaking to LBC this morning, the Home Secretary said there was a need to ‘shrink the whole asylum system’ as she spoke about Labour’s pledge to shut asylum hotels.

‘We actually need to have fewer people in the asylum system in the first place, fewer people needing accommodation. That has to be at the core of this,’ she said.

‘It’s been allowed to expand in a way that is out of control. And then, yes, we do also want to see alternative sites, more appropriate sites, including looking at military and industrial sites as well.’

After being pressed repeatedly on whether a warehouse was an example of an industrial site, Ms Cooper added: ‘That’s one of the things that’s been looked at.

‘But we will provide updates when we’ve got the practical plans. What I’m not going to do, I’m doing the opposite, basically, of what the previous government did.

‘Because they used to just announce a whole load of things and then not actually deliver any of them. And I think that undermined trust.’

Sir Keir told Cabinet ministers this morning there was a need to ‘go further and faster’ on tackling migration.

In a readout of Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, the PM’s spokesman said: ‘He said it was easy to understand the frustration people feel at the level of illegal crossings and the sight of asylum hotels in their communities.

‘He will be chairing a ministerial meeting later today to consider how we can go further and faster to combat illegal crossings.

‘This includes continuing to work with the French authorities, cracking down on pull factors and illegal working, including exploring options around digital ID, accelerating the closure of hotels and looking at better forms of accommodation, and driving further progress on returning people with no right to be here.’

Ministers had claimed when the ‘one in, one out’ agreement with France was announced in July that it would take effect within weeks.

The first small boat arrivals due to be returned were detained in Dover at the start of August.

But the Home Secretary told MPs on Monday that she now expects deportations to begin ‘later this month’.

Some 3,567 more people have landed in dinghies since the deal with France was ratified – adding to the record numbers arriving this year.

Ms Cooper was asked by Sky News on Tuesday as to whether she could guarantee returns would begin amid reports the crisis-hit French government may falter on the deal.

She insisted the UK would ‘continue to work’ with France. But, pressed for a guarantee, she replied: ‘We expect the first returns to take place this month.

‘But I’ve always said from the very beginning on this, it’s a pilot scheme and it needs to build up over time.’

The Home Secretary contrasted her ‘practical and sensible’ approach with that of the previous Tory government over the now-scrapped Rwanda scheme.

She said the Conservatives had ‘spent £700million and sent four volunteers after running it for two years’.

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The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex became the focal point of several demonstrations and counter-protests in recent weeks

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The protests in Epping came after an asylum seeker housed at the Bell Hotel was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl last month. He has denied the charges

In a round of TV and radio interviews this morning, Ms Cooper appeared confident that Labour could speed up efforts to empty hotels housing asylum seekers.

The PM said on Monday he wants to move more quickly to clear migrants from hotels than the Government’s self-imposed deadline by the end of the Parliament, which could be as late as 2029.

‘We do believe it can be done earlier,’ Ms Cooper told Times Radio.

Ministers’ ability to do this is ‘dependent on a whole series of factors’, she added, while declining to set out a timetable.

The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex became the focal point of several demonstrations and counter-protests in recent weeks after an asylum seeker housed there was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl last month.

He has denied the charges.

Ms Cooper announced to the Commons on Monday that new applications to the existing refugee family reunion route will be suspended this week.

This means refugees will be covered by ‘the same family migration rules and conditions as everyone else’ until new rules are introduced.

Further reforms to family reunion routes will be outlined later this year and introduced by spring.

On Tuesday, she also confirmed ministers are seeking to crack down on international students claiming asylum once their visas come to an end.

‘Up to 15,000 students each year end up claiming asylum’, she told BBC Breakfast.

The Home Office is launching a new campaign where, for the first time, it will directly contact international students and their families by email or text, warning them they must leave if they have no right to remain.

Nearly 10,000 students and dependants were contacted last week and tens of thousands more are expected to receive the guidance in the coming weeks ahead of their visas expiring.

The message also warns an asylum claim that lacks merit will be ‘swiftly and robustly refused’.

On Monday night, Tory Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told the Mail: ‘The Government claimed in July that a handful of migrants would be sent back to France within weeks – but it’s now September and not a single person has been sent back.

‘Under Labour, a small boat to the UK is a one-way ticket to one of Keir Starmer’s cushy hotels – paid for by hard-pressed taxpayers. This weak government has lost control of our borders and won’t do what is needed to fix it.

‘Labour has flung open the doors to the UK and this year they have let in the highest number of illegal immigrants across the channel ever.

‘They are too weak to do what’s needed to fix this – which is make sure that every single illegal immigrant is removed immediately upon arrival. Then, no one would bother crossing in the first place.

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Ms Cooper admitted to the House of Commons yesterday that no Channel migrants are yet to be returned to France under the much-vaunted deal

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The ‘one in, one out’ deal was announced by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron on July 10 at the end of the Anglo-French summit

The ‘one-in, one-out’ deal was announced by the Prime Minister and French President Emmanuel Macron on July 10 at the end of the Anglo-French summit.

Sir Keir said at the time that the ‘ground-breaking’ pilot project – under which some migrants arriving in small boats would be detained and returned to France while the same number of genuine asylum-seekers would be allowed to come to the UK – would begin ‘in the coming weeks’.

The Home Secretary also told MPs on July 14 that the expectation was ‘that that pilot will be operationalised in the coming weeks’.

It was announced on August 4 that the treaty had been ratified, then the Home Office revealed that ‘detentions began for those who arrived in the UK on a small boat’ on August 6, stating: ‘The UK will make referrals to France within three days, and the French authorities will be expected to respond within 14 days.’

But almost four weeks on, the cases are still being processed although sources insisted that those detained are still being held.

Ms Cooper told the Commons on Monday: ‘In August I signed the new treaty with France allowing us for the first time to directly return those who arrive on small boats.

‘The first detentions took place the next day – of people immediately on arrival at Dover. And we expect the first returns to begin later this month.

‘Applications have also been opened for the reciprocal legal route, with the first cases under consideration, subject to strict security checks.’

But when asked how many people would be returned over the coming year, amid reports that it could be fewer than 50 a week, she replied: ‘We have set out that this is a pilot, and that we want to build and grow it.

‘There is no cap on the overall numbers to go as part of the pilot, and we need to build it as we go.’