View 10 Images

It was during the pandemic, shortly before she took over as leader of Manchester council, that Bev Craig first became aware of the plans to use hotels as asylum seeker accommodation. Five of them would be set up in the city - but the town hall was in the dark.

"We're not even talking about permission," the Labour leader says, "We're talking about telling. We didn't find out until they arrived, and we obviously had to stand up a lot of support."

Years later, when a hotel in Newton Heath became the latest to house asylum seekers, some of that support came in the form of donating shoes to the new residents who had arrived barefoot. In response, local councillors collected shoes to donate to them.

Sign up to the MEN Politics newsletter Due North here

That same hotel wo

See Full Page