How Nightingale asylum centres would work - and could they slash the backlog?

Labour has been urged to create “Nightingale” asylum centres in a push to end migrants being housed in hotels .

The Liberal Democrats have proposed the temporary, “emergency” processing centres to bring down the backlog in asylum claims and close hotels within six months .

Wartime powers should be used to set up sites along similar lines to the Nightingale hospitals and courts created during the Covid crisis, say the Lib Dems.

Nightingale courts and hospitals were temporary facilities used during the pandemic to deal with the sheer number of cases and in terms of the judiciary, attempt to clear the backlog when existing courts faced restrictions.

Sir Ed Davey’s party – holding its annual conference in Bournemouth this week – also wants to end the ban on asylum seekers working in