UK tourist attractions offer discounts to asylum seekers

A report has identified 21 British tourist attractions that offer free or heavily discounted entry to asylum seekers, while domestic visitors are required to pay full admission prices.

Key venues cited include Kew Gardens, where asylum seekers can enter for 85p compared to a £24.50 standard fee, the Roman Baths, which offer free entry to migrants while adults pay up to £33, and Canterbury Cathedral, where an Application Registration Card from the Home Office allows free entry instead of the £18.50 adult price.

An analysis suggests that while a standard visitor would pay £337 to visit all 21 identified venues, an asylum seeker could pay as little as £28. Similar concessions have been noted in cities such as Bristol, Nottingham, and Oxford. Critics, including Rob Bates of the Centre for Migration Control, have characterized the disparity as evidence of a ‘two-tier society’ that creates pull factors for migration.