Staff at a hotel where asylum seekers are set to be housed from next month are “in shock” after a redundancy announcement.
Workers at Stradey Park Hotel & Spa in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, were told this week they face being made redundant on 10 July.
Sky News understands around 100 staff are employed at the hotel.
The Home Office confirmed at the beginning of June that a maximum of 207 people, made up of family groups, will be accommodated across 77 rooms at the hotel.
It insists it makes no decisions about hotel staffing directly.
‘They’re laying everybody off’
Victoria Price has worked at the hotel’s spa for around 15 months.
She told Sky News everyone was “in shock” when they heard staff would be made redundant.
“They called an emergency meeting in the hotel for yesterday (Tuesday) morning, we all went in,” she said.
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“It was the two managers of the hotel there talking to us. The hotel manager – she had to hold the tears back you could see – and she just announced that they’re laying everybody off as from 10 July, even them are getting laid off.
“The owners of the hotel… they didn’t even come down to give the news themselves, they left it to the two managers who are also going to lose their jobs as well which is really sad.
“The whole of the staff upstairs were all waiting, nobody was looking for jobs, they were all sticking together, waiting ’til final last minute, hoping that they were going to get offered something or that they wouldn’t get left.
“It was just silence when they broke the news.”
Image: Victoria Price, with her husband. Pic: Victoria Price
‘Disgraceful’
Llanelli MP Dame Nia Griffith said it was a “disgraceful and degrading way to treat the workers”.
The matter was raised in the Senedd (Welsh parliament) on Wednesday.
Plaid Cymru Senedd member, Cefin Campbell, said he was “alarmed” by reports that “around 100 jobs at the hotel will be lost as a direct result of the Tory UK government’s decision to take over the hotel for the purpose of housing asylum seekers”.
Mr Campbell said he was “extremely proud of the fact that Wales is a nation of sanctuary” but that the UK government’s hotels policy “does not serve the needs of asylum seekers”.
Jane Hutt, the Welsh government’s social justice minister, said: “I understand that up to 100 jobs are at risk as a result of the Home Office’s decision to use the Stradey Park Hotel.”
She added that the Welsh government was “monitoring this concerning situation closely”.
Carmarthenshire County Council leader, Darren Price, said he was “outraged that this proposal by the Home Office to concentrate a large number of asylum seekers is going ahead”.
The Home Office has previously said the use of hotels to house asylum seekers was “unacceptable” and said there were currently “more than 51,000 asylum seekers in hotels costing the UK taxpayer £6m a day”.
Rishi Sunak’s government is exploring a number of ways of housing asylum seekers, including a controversial barge to be moored off of the Dorset coast.
The prime minister’s promise to “stop the boats” was one of a number of pledges he asked the British people to judge him on at the start of the year.
Image: Jane Hutt, the Welsh government’s social justice minister. Pic: Senedd.TV
‘They’re going to destroy a community’
Stradey Park Hotel worker Ms Price said she was in a more fortunate position than others as she had managed to find employment elsewhere before the hotel’s closure.
“We’ve got an amazing manager in the spa with us and we just all rallied, we just looked for jobs, so all the spa girls got new jobs before. So we’re all leaving this week, it’s the last week for us now,” she said.
“Everybody has been brilliant and we’ve noticed now on the groups that a lot of the community, the businesses and things, are putting it out there ‘I’ve got jobs, I’ve got jobs’ so that shows what the community is.”
While the community have rallied around staff members, Ms Price said the Home Office should “hold their heads in disgrace”.
“They’re actually going to destroy a community, jobs, things like that,” she said.
“They haven’t got in touch with anybody, they won’t respond to anybody’s messages or anything either.
“You’ve got people like myself who has only been there about 14, 15 months, so we wouldn’t be entitled to redundancy pay or any kind of package or anything like that. Nothing has been put in place for any of the staff.”
A spokesperson for the Home Office said: “Hotel staffing decisions are at the discretion of the hotelier and contractors. The Home Office is not involved in these decisions.”
Sky News has approached Stradey Park Hotel & Spa for comment.
But what about his style ‘prince’? Some want that ditched too.
It’s a complicated but not impossible process. Andrew could, of course, just stop using it voluntarily.
Some want him to give up his home, too. For a non-working royal, the stately Royal Lodge, with its plum position on the Windsor Estate, is an uncomfortable optic.
With the reputation of the monarchy at risk, William does not want to appear weak. He’s putting loyalty to “the firm” firmly above his familial relationships.
Prince Andrew has always strongly denied the allegations, and restated on Friday: “I vigorously deny the accusations against me”. Sky News has approached him for comment on the fresh allegations set out in the Mail on Sunday.
But with Virginia Giuffre’s tragic death and posthumous memoir due out on Tuesday, Buckingham Palace will be braced for more scandal.
When Andrew gave up his titles, there was certainly a sense of relief.
There is now a sense of dread over what else could emerge.
Sky News’ royal commentator has explained why Prince Andrew has not given up being called a prince – while another expert has said “the decent thing” for him to do would be “go into exile” overseas.
Andrew announced on Friday that he would stop using his Duke of York title and relinquish all other honours, including his role as a Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.
However, he will continue to be known as a prince.
Royal commentator Alastair Bruce said that while Andrew’s other honours and titles were conferred to him later in life, he became a prince when he was born to Elizabeth II while she was queen.
He told presenter Kamali Melbourne: “I think […] that style was quite special to the late Queen,” he said. “And perhaps the King, for the moment, thinks that can be left alone.
“It’s a matter really for the King, for the royal household, perhaps with the guidance and advice of government, which I’m sure they are taking.”
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2:49
Who pushed Andrew to drop his titles?
Since Andrew’s announcement, there has been speculation over whether any further measures will be taken – and one author has now called for him to “go into exile”.
More on Prince Andrew
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Andrew Lownie, author of The Rise And Fall Of The House Of York, said: “The only way the story will go away is if he leaves Royal Lodge, goes into exile abroad with his ex-wife, and is basically stripped of all his honours, including Prince Andrew.”
Royal Lodge is the Windsor mansion Andrew lives in with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who has also lost her Duchess of York title.
Image: Andrew and his former wife continue to live on the Windsor estate. Pic: Reuters
Mr Lownie continued: “He makes out he’s an honourable man and he’s putting country and family first. Well, if he is, then the optics look terrible for the monarchy. A non-working royal in a 30-room Crown Estate property with a peppercorn rent.
“He should do the decent thing and go. And frankly, he should go into exile.”
Mr Lownie added if the Royal Family “genuinely want to cut links, they have to put pressure on him to voluntarily get out”.
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1:11
Windsor’s take on Prince Andrew
Andrew’s decision to stop using his titles was announced amid renewed scrutiny of his relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and fresh stories linked to the late Virginia Giuffre.
Ms Giuffre, who was trafficked by Epstein, alleged she was sexually assaulted by Andrew on three occasions – which he has always vigorously denied.
Bereaved families whose loved ones took their own lives after buying the same poison online have written to the prime minister demanding urgent action.
Warning: This article contains references to suicide
The group claims there have been “multiple missed opportunities” to shut down online forums that promote suicide and dangerous substances.
They warn that over 100 people have died after purchasing a particular poison in the last 10 years.
Among those who have written to Downing Street is Pete Aitken, whose daughter Hannah was 22 when she took her own life after buying the poison from a website.
Hannah was autistic and had ADHD. She was treated in six different mental health hospitals over a four-year period.
He said: “Autistic people seem to be most vulnerable to this kind of sort of poison and, you know, wanting to take their lives.”
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4:05
Pete Aitken speaking to Sky News
Sky News is not naming the poison, but Hannah was able to buy a kilogram of it online. Just one gram is potentially fatal.
“There’s this disparity between the concentration required for its legitimate use and that required for ending your life. And it seems quite clear you could make a distinction,” Mr Aitken said.
Analysis from the Molly Rose Foundation and the group Families and Survivors to Prevent Online Suicide Harms says at least 133 people have died because of the poison. It also says coroners have written warnings about the substance on 65 separate occasions.
The report accuses the Home Office of failing to strengthen the regulation of the poison and says not enough is being done to close dangerous suicide forums online.
Lawyers representing the group want a public inquiry into the deaths.
In a joint letter to the prime minister, the families said: “We write as families whose loved ones were let down by a state that was too slow to respond to the threat.
“This series of failings requires a statutory response, not just to understand why our loved ones died but also to prevent more lives being lost in a similar way.”
The group’s lawyer, Merry Varney, from Leigh Day, said: “The government is rightly committed to preventing deaths through suicide, yet despite repeated warnings of the risks posed by an easily accessible substance, fatal in small quantities and essentially advertised on online forums, no meaningful steps have been taken.”
Image: Hannah’s dad is one of the family members to have signed the letter
A government spokesperson said: “Suicide devastates families and we are unequivocal about the responsibilities online services have to keep people safe on their platforms.
“Under the Online Safety Act, services must take action to prevent users from accessing illegal suicide and self-harm content and ensure children are protected from harmful content that promotes it.
“If they fail to do so, they can expect to face robust enforcement, including substantial fines.”
They added that the position is “closely monitored and reportable under the Poisons Act, meaning retailers must alert authorities if they suspect it is being bought to cause harm”.
“We will continue to keep dangerous substances under review to ensure the right safeguards are in place,” they said.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.