Brexiteer claims that authorities are trying to ‘cover up’ number of migrants in UK

Tice appeared on talkRADIO’s the Mike Graham show and accused local councils of a ‘cover up’ to rehouse asylum seekers.

The Brexiteer’s comment comes as the home secretary, Priti Patel, visits the port of Dover after a boat carrying 20 Syrian asylum seekers was intercepted by the Navy on Monday.

Patel has threatened to ‘send in’ the Royal Navy to deter boats carrying migrants such as young children and pregnant women from crossing the English Channel from France following a recent spike in new arrivals last week.

Those plans were shot down by the Ministry of Defence which said they had ‘more holes than Swiss cheese’ and could face legal challenges under international maritime law.

Kicking off the discussion, Graham insinuated that local councils were attempting to run a ‘clandestine operation’ to rehouse asylum seekers on a permanent basis in empty hotels across the UK.

Tice replied: ‘I think they all absolutely know about it…Actually, councils and local authorities view it as too politically incorrect to raise this issue.’

He continued: ‘They know what’s been going on and they’ve been trying to ignore it and cover it up because it’s in the ‘too-difficult’ box.’

MORE: Nigel Farage slammed over public stunt shaming hotel for housing asylum seekers

This is the second time in less than a week that the former Brexit Party MEP has raised eyebrows over comments he has made.

On Thursday, he challenged Downing Street to fire civil servants who refused to return to the office because of the coronavirus.

‘The government needs to lead by example,’ he said. ‘Hundreds of thousands of civil servants need to come back into the office.

‘And bluntly, if not, then let them go. There are plenty of other people who can do the job.’