Andrew Griffith has called for heads to roll after a report by MPs found that the Home Office has wasted billions on contracts to house migrants in hotels.

Speaking to GB News, the Shadow Business Secretary lamented what he described a “disgusting waste of money”.

The latest review into the Home Office concluded there was a “manifest failure” by the Home Office to “get a grip” of contracts made with the private firms tasked with housing asylum seekers.

The report said: “The Home Office has undoubtedly been operating in an extremely challenging environment but its chaotic response has demonstrated that it has not been up to the challenge.”

Hitting out at Labour’s spending, Mr Griffith told GB News: “It’s a disgusting waste of money if people haven’t been even collecting over-payments, that’s maladministration. Heads should roll. Permanent Secretary heads should roll.

“It’s completely unacceptable. There’ve been plenty of reports that say the Home Office is not fit for purpose, this is yet another example. This is nothing new.”

Asked about former Home Secretary John Reid branding the department “not fit for purpose” all the way back in 2006, he added: “Well, John Reid was one of very many Labour politicians who opposed us when we tried to introduce the Rwanda deterrence, something that’s worked extremely effectively in other countries, even the Government is now coming back to the idea that the only successful way of stopping the flow is to have third country processing.

“He also opposed us and many Labour lords and peers and bishops when we tried to leave the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights) again.”

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Urging Labour to “nip the problem at the source” rather than “playing whack-a-mole with expensive accommodation”, the Tory MP said: “The only way that you could adequately deal with this issue, without which we’ll only ever be working downstream, playing whack-a-mole with expensive accommodation is to actually nip this problem at source, which the Conservatives tried, yes, we didn’t manage to achieve that in Government, our policy now is very clear.

“The Deportation Bill, leaving the ECHR, those are policies that we will implement. But right here and right now, the select committee has done a really good piece of work, and absolutely people must be held to account, wherever they are, for their role in wasting taxpayers’ money.”

Highlighting the case of Epping hotel migrant Hadush Kebatu being mistakenly freed from prison, Mr Griffith told GB News he would support Sir Keir Starmer “sacking David Lammy”.

Delivering his verdict on the Government ordering extra checks on prisoner releases, he said: “Let’s see what the checks need to do. But I’m supportive of the Prime Minister sacking David Lammy, rather than as he did in the last reshuffle, promoting him.

“Everywhere he goes turns to chaos, whether it’s giving away our sovereign territory when he was Foreign Secretary, or letting prisoners, convicted criminals out of jail when he’s justice minister.

“There’s nothing that this man is doing for our country and heads must roll at the most senior level.”

In a statement, a spokesman for the Home Office said: “The Government is furious about the number of illegal migrant in this country and in hotels.

“That is why we will close every single asylum hotel – saving the taxpayer billions of pounds.

“We have already taken action – closing hotels, slashing asylum costs by nearly £1billion and exploring the use of military bases and disused properties.”