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05
Nov
Campaigners say minister ‘out of her depth’ over Linton asylum site
Campaigners fighting plans to accommodate 1,200 asylum seekers at a former RAF base in North Yorkshire have accused an immigration minister of being “out of her depth” after she told MPs the site was away from the community.
The Linton-on-Ouse Action Group has criticised asylum and immigration minister Anna Turley following a House of Commons debate in which she defended the government’s proposals for the former RAF Linton-on-Ouse base.
The group says the minister’s comments demonstrate a lack of understanding of the site’s location and has called for her replacement.
The government is proposing to accommodate around 1,200 single adult male asylum seekers at the former military base, which is situated alongside the village of Linton-on-Ouse, near Easingwold.
Campaigners say the village has approximately 600 adult residents and 100 children, meaning the proposed centre would accommodate twice as many asylum seekers as the village has adult residents.
'We are not housing them in the community'
During the Commons debate, Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrat MP Tom Gordon raised concerns about public transport, access to healthcare and the capacity of the site’s water, sewerage, drainage and electricity infrastructure.
He also questioned whether infrastructure removed following the abandonment of an earlier Home Office proposal in 2022 could be restored.
Responding to the concerns and those also made by Joe Robertson, Conservative MP for Isle of Wight East, Ms Turley said:
We are not housing them in the community. They are being housed on a specific site that is self-contained and away from the community. All their needs are met on that site.
Where they are not met, they are transported usually to larger places— cities or towns. That is certainly the situation at the two sites we have at the moment at Wethersfield and Crowborough.
They are taken specifically for their needs and requirements, but it is very rare, as a whole, that those individuals leave the camp of their own volition. They have to sign in and out. The sites are self-contained. They are not in the village; they are separate, on a self-contained site.
Tories including Sir Alec Shelbrooke, shadow minister Joy Morrissey and Kevin Hollinrake join campaigners.
However, the action group disputes that description, claiming the base’s main entrance is just 22 steps from the nearest family home.
It says the entrance would be used by asylum seekers entering and leaving the site.
Professor Olga Matthias, from the action group, claimed the minister’s comments showed she was “out of her depth”.
She added:
We just don’t know how else to try and communicate with this minister that this site is in the very heart of the village, not half or a mile away.
She has blocked the group comments on Facebook, does not respond to email communications, she only lives an hour away and will not visit the site to see for herself.
If this was a commercial operation she would be fired for incompetence.
Whether these are her plans or those of her civil servants, it’s her name on them yet she clearly doesn’t know what she’s planning, despite the costs running into hundreds of millions.
Cost of the scheme
The group has also questioned the financial implications of the proposals, claiming the cost of accommodating asylum seekers at the site could be between £527 and £853 per person per night.
It is demanding that the government publish detailed financial assessments, including the expected operating costs, alongside information about infrastructure, healthcare, policing and fire service provision.
The group has also called for further cross-party scrutiny and for the government to engage directly with residents before any final decision is made.
Meanwhile, Wetherby and Easingwold Conservative MP Sir Alec Shelbrooke told the Commons he was still awaiting a response to correspondence sent to the Home Office about the proposals.
The action group has urged ministers to respond to his concerns.
The former RAF base was previously earmarked for asylum accommodation in 2022, but the plans were abandoned following widespread local opposition.
The Home Office says the government is working to close all asylum hotels, which it says has already saved more than £1bn since the election.
Officials say former military sites were among the alternative accommodation options being used and were designed to be self-contained to minimise the impact on local communities.
The Home Office says it is working with local authorities and police forces to ensure the safety and security of surrounding communities.
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