Asylum seekers given half-price Lime bikes and e-scooters under Labour council deal
Asylum seekers living in Wandsworth are now able to claim a 50 per cent discount when hiring a vehicle to whizz around London.
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The move comes amid intensifying anger at the eye-watering cost to taxpayers of illegal migration including billions spent on hotels.
Hire bikes have also been used by some asylum seekers to work illegally as delivery riders, which The Sun has exposed.
In Wandsworth asylum seekers are eligible for the authority's Access for All scheme that offers half-price and even free perks and services.
The council last week announced a new deal with Lime, Forest and Voi so participants can bag a 50 per cent discount on their hire bikes and e-scooters.
The cheaper rides - first revealed by the Guido Fawkes website - were trumpeted by the borough's Labour boss Simon Hogg last week.
He said the tie-up was 'about opening up affordable, sustainable travel that helps our residents to access work and entertainment opportunities across the borough'.
Asylum seekers are not allowed to work until they have had their claims accepted and granted refugee status.
However under the Access for All scheme - which is also open to benefit claimants in the area - they can access cut-price entertainment and services.
It includes discount pottery classes, panto tickets, and soft play sessions, and free gym membership.
Wandsworth Council was approached for comment.
It comes amid revelations that more than 6,000 asylum seekers have used government-issued cards loaded with £50 a week at betting shops and casinos.
Pre-paid cards given out to pay for basics including food and clothing are being used in gambling venues, Home Office data reveals.
While attempts to gamble online using the cards had been made, they were blocked each time so they were forced to use them in physical sites, as reported by PoliticsHome.
This is because they can only be activated by using the chip and pin.
There are currently around 80,000 ASPEN card users in the UK.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp told PoliticsHome: 'It is shocking that over 6,000 illegal immigrants have attempted to use hard-working British taxpayers' money to gamble.
"They have illegally entered this country without needing to – France is safe, and no one needs to flee from there.
'The British taxpayer has put them up in hotels, and now they slap us in the face by using the money they are given to fund gambling.
"These illegal immigrants clearly don't need the money they are given if they are squandering it at casinos and arcades.'
When asylum seekers are placed in fully catered hotels, the ASPEN card is loaded with roughly £9.95 per week.
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