Locals have been left ‘gobsmacked’ by Labour’s resurrection of the asylum seeker scheme four years after the Conservatives axed it.
The former military barracks could become a migrant accommodation site under Labour plans (Image: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)
Residents in a UK village have vowed to fight Labour plans to house migrants at its former RAF military base. Campaigners in Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire, said they were “gobsmacked” by the Government’s resurrection of the scheme, which was scrapped by the Conservatives four years ago following major local backlash.
Labour announced that the RAF facility in the isolated village would be part of a new plan to accommodate 3,750 asylum seekers at Ministry of Defence (MoD) sites on Thursday. Speaking on Friday, campaigner Professor Olga Matthias said: “Who knew that stupidity has such a big, long shelf-life? We’re utterly and completely gobsmacked.
“It was thrust upon everyone yesterday. There’s been absolutely no consultation by the Government, none whatsoever.” Opposition from villagers had hinged on the site’s unsuitability, linked to the lack of public transport and wider infrastructure.
Villagers in the North Yorkshire area have fiercely opposed the plans (Image: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)
Professor Matthias said the former military base has also been further decommissioned since 2022, and some of its buildings refurbished and sold.
“The site has significantly deteriorated,” she added. “It was a dangerous site anyway, because it’s got toxic waste all over the place, it’s got asbestos.
“There’s no power, no water, no phone lines actually on the site. So, if the costs before were prohibitive, they’re now going to be astronomical. [But] astronomical costs when they’re spending taxpayers’ money doesn’t bother this Government.”
The Tory-run Home Office said the facility would provide “safe and cost-effective” accommodation for single adult men claiming asylum in the UK when the plans were first announced in April 2022.
Senior civil servants from the department were questioned for two hours by residents at a meeting in the village, with one emphasising that they faced a “crisis”.
Prior to the plan being scrapped, the local authority pledged to seek a judicial review and Rishi Sunak, MP for North Yorkshire who was running to be leader at the time, said he would U-turn on the proposals if he entered Downing Street.
The Home Office is also seeking planning permission for sites in Bicester, Oxfordshire, and Barnham, Suffolk, as part of the plan to move migrants into former military barracks.
The drive is part of Labour’s pledge to stop using asylum hotels by the next election, with the number of migrants being housed temporarily in UK hotels falling to its lowest level since data was first reported in 2022, according to figures published last month.
