Tory pair backed ‘rushed and misjudged’ asylum site purchase, watchdog says

Robert Jenrick and Oliver Dowden were on committee that supported paying £15m for asbestos-ridden former prison

Leading Tories Robert Jenrick and Oliver Dowden were on the committee that backed plans for the “rushed and misjudged” £15m purchase of an asbestos-ridden site for asylum accommodation, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has disclosed.

The then immigration minister and the former chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster were members of the small ministerial group that oversaw the purchase of the Northeye site in Bexhill, East Sussex, as the government attempted to move asylum seekers from hotels.