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    30

    Mar 2023

    Last Updated: 30/03/2023
    Boroughbridge
    Boroughbridge

    Minister: no plans to house migrants at ex-airfield near Harrogate district — for now

    by John Plummer

    | 30 Mar, 2023
    Comment

    0

    control-tower-nick-challoner-1

    The government has no current plans to house migrants at a former RAF base on the edge of the Harrogate district, Immigration minister Robert Jenrick has said.

    The government scrapped plans last year to house 1,500 asylum seekers at Linton-on-Ouse after a fierce backlash from local people and politicians.

    The former airfield is nine miles from Boroughbridge, 13 miles from Knaresborough, and even closer to Harrogate district villages such as Great Ouseburn, Little Ouseburn and Nun Monkton.

    Immigration minister Robert Jenrick told the Commons yesterday the government was now considering housing migrants at at Catterick Garrison in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's constituency.

    Ex-military bases in Essex, Lincolnshire and East Sussex are also being assessed for suitability as part of plans to cut down on hotel use.

    Former Home Secretary Priti Patel, who was behind the Linton proposal, said the proposed Essex site "is no different in rurality and village size from a former site, Linton-on-Ouse", adding:

    "Why is it deemed appropriate for asylum seeker accommodation for single men to be placed in a rural village in Essex, where there is no infrastructure and no amenities, when it was not appropriate for somewhere like Linton-on-Ouse?"





    Read more:



    • Ouseburn councillor welcomes decision to scrap Linton asylum centre

    • Greggs opens new shop in Knaresborough





    In response, Mr Jenrick said:

    "We do not have a current plan to proceed with the Linton-on-Ouse proposition, but the sites I have announced today are just the first set that we would like to take forward, because we want to remove people from hotels as quickly as possible and move to this more rudimentary form of accommodation, which will reduce pull factors to the UK and defend the interests of the taxpayer.


    Labour shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper described the announcement as "an admission of failure" on asylum policy.