Minister condemns ‘unacceptable’ violence outside Knowsley asylum hotel

Andrew Mitchell says disorder in Merseyside ‘totally unjustifiable’ as government faces criticism over ‘dehumanising’ language

Violence outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Knowsley was “completely unacceptable” and “totally unjustifiable”, a minister has said, after growing criticism over the government’s use of “dehumanising” language to describe people seeking refuge in the UK.

The international development minister, Andrew Mitchell, said the violent scenes in Merseyside on Friday night, in which a police van was set alight and stones thrown, were “totally unjustifiable … and the government condemns it absolutely”.