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Will Yvette Cooper put her money where her mouth is on refugee accommodation?

As the chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, Yvette Cooper is in the news today with a call for a major overhaul of the system for housing asylum seekers in Britain. After hearing evidence of some families living in homes with pest infestations, Cooper branded ‘the state of accommodation for some asylum seekers and refugees in this country’ a disgrace.

While Cooper has called for an overhaul of the system so that local authorities in more affluent areas do more, Mr S wonders if the Labour MP can lead by example. After all, back in 2015, Cooper was one of a number of politicians and celebrities who volunteered to take refugees into their home:

‘If that’s what it took and that’s what was needed, then of course, I think lots of people would be.’

Since then she appears to have gone cold on the idea — avoiding the question in an excruciating LBC interview, while her spokesman previously told Mr S that ‘she never volunteered to be a foster parent as this is a full-time job that requires training’.

With Cooper now deeply concerned about unsafe accommodation, surely she will be able to find some space for an adult refugee in her own home?

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Steerpike
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Steerpike

Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

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