'Ludicrous!' Fury as NHS dishes out free condoms to asylum seekers living in taxpayer-funded hotels
The NHS is providing free condoms to asylum seekers living in taxpayer-funded accommodation, it has emerged.
Local health authorities have been supplying contraceptives to asylum accommodation at no charge to residents, the Daily Express has revealed.
NHS England confirmed that asylum seekers are entitled to free contraception as part of standard sexual health provision.
But the revelation has sparked fury among Conservative politicians and campaigners, who questioned why taxpayers should foot the bill while the health service remains under pressure.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: "British taxpayers are funding contraception for illegal immigrants while British people can't even get a dentist appointment."
More than 93,000 asylum seekers are currently being housed at public expense, with the number living in dispersal accommodation having risen by 12 per cent under Labour.
Mr Philp said: "Illegal immigrants should be deported.
"The next Conservative Government would deport every illegal immigrant, leaving the ECHR and any other obligation that stands in the way in order to get it done, because the surest way to empty the accommodation is to make plain that nobody who crosses the Channel gets to stay."
John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Brits are paying billions for processing, accommodation and freebies provided to foreign criminals who have broken into our country.
"There should be no taxpayer-funded perks for those who break the law and bypass our borders."
Conservative Assembly Member Susan Hall also criticised the policy.
She said: "Taxpayers will not understand why they are funding such a ridiculous waste of money at a time when our NHS is already under pressure."
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Ms Hall branded the spending "ludicrous" and said it highlighted the "eyewatering" wider costs associated with accommodating asylum seekers.
An NHS spokesman said: "The NHS provides contraception services for free to all, which includes asylum seekers, through sexual health clinics, most pharmacies, and some GP practices.
"The NHS is legally obliged to offer healthcare services to asylum seekers."
The row comes just days after the Home Office published a guide for illegal migrants on how "not to rape women" in Britain.
The material forms part of a collection titled "Understanding behaviours and expectations in the UK: a guide for asylum seekers".
Posters and information about rape, the age of consent and child abuse are among the resources intended to help asylum seekers "understand what is expected when living in the UK".
The guidance stresses that sex with a child is illegal "even if they look older" or if "it is allowed in another country".
When discussing child abuse, it explains it is against the law to physically hurt, shout at or threaten a child and deny them food, clothes, shelter or care.
It also explicitly tells foreigners female genital mutilation, where a person cuts or harms a girl’s genitals, is forbidden in Britain.
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