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

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?”

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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.

Andrew Jones MP writes to Priti Patel about ‘law-breaking’ Travellers

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones has written to Home Secretary Priti Patel about speeding up measures to evict Travellers who break the law.

The Conservative MP said the recent encampment at Hay-a-Park in Knaresborough produced “disorder and anti-social behaviour completely off the scale compared to that associated with previous traveller encampments in our area”.

Mr Jones said his comments were based on reports received from residents, police and landowner Harrogate Borough Council.

Writing on his Community News website, he said:

“Vandalism of property, damage to cars, late night motorbike and quad bike racing through residential estates, break-ins at barns, use of pavements and open space as a toilet were just some of the unpleasantness residents nearby reported and had to put up with.”

Mr Jones added that some Travellers had “took the openness and generosity of spirit which is the hallmark of our communities and simply abused it” and further action was needed to “protect the rights and property of residents against future incursions of this nature”.

Eviction currently takes place three days after notice is served.

“I have written to the Home Secretary asking her to look at ways in which enforcement can be brought forward on the advice of the police where law-breaking occurs from the activities of a travelling community.

“I have also written to our local Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, Zoe Metcalfe, asking her to look at the policing of this encampment and to see if any improvements could be made with the benefit of this experience.

“Finally, I have asked the council to look at how it can secure public land more effectively and more anticipate the movements of travelling communities and provide appropriate sites to be used as layovers for them.”

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Mr Jones described the Traveller encampment as “a darker episode for many” amid recent celebrations, such as Knaresborough Bed Race and the Queen’s platinum jubilee.

“I want to make sure that local people and travelling communities can enjoy their everyday lives in peace.

“It is a shame when the minority act in a way that risks labelling the majority and that is what my actions are seeking to avoid.”

 

 

North Yorkshire Police among slowest in country responding to 999 calls

A government league table has revealed that North Yorkshire Police is the fourth slowest of 44 forces in the UK at responding to 999 calls.

The table, published by the Home Office today, shows North Yorkshire Police answered just 44% of 999 calls within the 10-second target in the last six months.

Police forces are required to answer 90% of emergency calls within 10 seconds.

The data, which covers from November 1, 2021, until April 30, 2022, shows that on average the force in North Yorkshire take 29.7 seconds to answer 999 calls.

A total of 43% of 999 calls are answered between 10 and 60 seconds.

Only Avon and Somerset police reached the 90% target, while Humberside Police was the worst with just 2% of calls answered on time.

Durham and South Yorkshire were the only other worse performing constabularies than North Yorkshire.

In response to the data, Lindsey Butterfield, North Yorkshire Police’s lead for contact management, said:

“Whilst there are a number of factors which impact on the speed at which 999 calls are answered, we recognise that we are not staffed to meet our current elevated levels of demand and we are investing in a number of measures to make improvements and get calls answered quicker.

“This includes putting in place enhanced recruitment plans for more staff within our force control room. We expect to have recruited 10% above our establishment by September 2022. The additional 10% allows for the levels of staff turnover that we experience.

“We have also established a pool of reserve staff to deal with administrative tasks on behalf of the call takers in the force control room. The additional costs for these interim arrangements have been funded by North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.

“The dedicated team of staff who handle our calls within our force control room work incredibly hard, in a very challenging environment. We will be recruiting for our next intake very shortly so if you or someone you know is interested in joining the team, please keep an eye on the jobs section of our website or register your interest via our vacancies page.”

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The Home Office figures are the first time that performance for answering 999 calls from each police force has been published.

Priti Patel, Home Secretary, said:

“Calling 999 can literally be a matter of life and death. The public deserve to know that their local police force will be at the end of the phone, ready to leap into action at seconds’ notice to protect them from harm.

“Fundamentally, publishing this data is about driving up standards in our incredible emergency services even further, so that the public can have every confidence in the police’s ability to save lives and keep our streets safe.

“We can now see where forces are excelling and where vital improvements need to be made and I thank the police for their commitment to ensuring we maintain the best emergency services in the world.”

Ripon refugee charity joins calls opposing 1,500 asylum seekers at Linton

A Ripon refugee charity has joined calls to pause plans to house 1,500 asylum seekers at a former RAF base in Linton-on-Ouse.

Nicola David, chair of Ripon City of Sanctuary, attended a public meeting in the village last night which saw Home Office officials jeered on arrival.

The government is pushing forward with its plan to house 1,500 asylum seekers for up to six months in a ‘reception centre’ on the site, which is four miles from Great Ouseburn and Little Ousburn in the Harrogate district and not far from Knaresborough and Boroughbridge.

At the meeting, Ms David described Priti Patel, the home secretary, as a “hypocrite” because she comes from a Ugandan refugee family but shows little compassion for other refugees.

She said the Home Secretary had “pulled up the ladder” behind other refugees.

Ms David told the Stray Ferret:

“How can you put people fleeing war on a military base?”

“It’s a troubling thing to do to asylum seekers.”

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Ms David, who discussed the issue on BBC Breakfast today, added that it was only the Home Office which wanted the scheme to go-ahead. She pointed out that there would be too many asylum seekers to residents at the site.

She said:

“Everybody is in agreement. Everybody is saying it is completely unsuitable.

“The only people who are saying it is [a good idea] is the Home Office.”

Home Office were not living their best life last night – from the moment they arrived, they took a pounding. I put it to them that Priti & Rishi are hypocrites who, as children of immigrants, have had every opportunity in this country but have pulled up the ladder behind them. https://t.co/t8hygkNlRY pic.twitter.com/jdjmgXL5iT

— Ripon City of Sanctuary (@RiponCoS) May 20, 2022

Residents at last night’s meeting were told that 60 asylum seekers will arrive at the site by the end of the month and will be mostly men.

Home Office officials also said Ms Patel planned to visit the village to speak with residents about the centre.

The controversial proposal for Linton-on-Ouse comes as part of a wider plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda to have their claims processed.

Before potentially being flown out to the African country, asylum seekers will be held in ‘reception centres’ across the UK for up to six months, with the first announced being at Linton-on-Ouse.

Ms Patel said:

“The global migration crisis and how we tackle illegal migration requires new world-leading solutions. There are an estimated 80 million people displaced in the world and the global approach to asylum and migration is broken.

“Existing approaches have failed and there is no single solution to tackle these problems. Change is needed because people are dying attempting to come to the UK illegally.”

Home Office accused of ‘disgraceful actions’ over Linton asylum plan

A Conservative-led council has voiced fury after the Home Office announced it had moved forward plans to open a centre for asylum seekers on the edge of the Harrogate district.

A meeting of Hambleton District Council heard claims the Home Office had treated the residents of Linton-on-Ouse and the surrounding area with “complete contempt” by revealing that 60 people would be arriving at the centre in the isolated village from May 31, weeks earlier than it previously stated.

The centre will be just 10 miles from Boroughbridge and 13 miles from Knaresborough, and on the doorstep of Harrogate district villages such as Nun Monkton, Great Ouseburn and Green Hammerton.

Ministers have insisted the centre, at a former RAF training base, will “provide safe and self-sufficient accommodation”.

They say the centre, where Prince William trained as a pilot, will help end the Home Office’s reliance on expensive hotels, which are costing the taxpayer £4.7million a day.

The authority’s leader, Cllr Mark Robson, said during a meeting with the police and crime commissioner, Thirsk and Malton MP Kevin Hollinrake that the Home Office’s announcement had come as “a bit of a bombshell”.

He said:

“What we were told four to six weeks just before Easter has suddenly become two weeks time.

“I’m in no doubt about how much worry and concern there is in the local community and the surrounding areas about this proposal from government.”

He said the authority was working to get answers about the situation as quickly as it could. Cllr Robson the authority had appointed a legal team and was anticipating receiving advice imminently.

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The council leader said elected members and officers had been “in constant and robust dialogue” with the Home Office, and that the council was expecting a response to the council’s concerns later this week.

Cllr Robson said:

“We have, in the strongest possible terms, asked that the Home Office pause this proposal immediately to allow for consultation to be carried out and are awaiting the response to this ask.

“Officers and members continue to take part in multi-agency meetings and support and work closely with the local community and surrounding areas. Although frustrating and concerning, it is very important that what we do now doesn’t prejudice any outcome from the legal process.”

‘Goalposts have changes again’

Linton-on-Ouse Cllr Malcolm Taylor said while the community was looking for answers, there was now a “very tight window of opportunity” to take action. He said:

“The goalposts have been changed yet again by the Home Office and I think it is absolutely regrettable and disgraceful the way this Home Office has treated the residents not just of Linton-on-Ouse but the wider community and this council and everybody who is an interested party in this. We need to get answers and we need to get them very quickly.”

Local member Cllr Nigel Knapton added:

“They are playing games with us and it is absolutely disgraceful.”

Ouseburn councillor: ‘pause thoughtless Linton asylum centre’

The new Green Party county councillor for Ouseburn, Arnold Warneken, has called for a pause in ‘thoughtless and careless’ plans to house 1,500 asylum seekers in Linton-on-Ouse.

The government is pushing forward with its plan to house 1,500 asylum seekers for up to six months in a ‘reception centre’ at Linton-on-Ouse.

The site closed in 2020 after being used by the RAF for almost a century.

Although located in Hambleton, the site is only about a mile from the Harrogate district, on the other side of the River Ouse.

It’s close to villages Great Ouseburn, Little Ouseburn and Nun Monkton, which are all part of Cllr Warneken’s new division.

The asylum seekers will not be prisoners and will be free to leave the centre. Cllr Warneken said he is concerned services in the villages will not be able to cope.

Cllr Warneken, who won his seat last week by over 700 votes, said:

“The plan needs to have the brakes put on it. Rural locations are losing shops, pubs and post offices.

“The government has not looked at what the asylum seekers need, whether that’s religious or cultural things or food. They are not prisoners, they are victims.

“The centre will be twice the size of Linton-on-Ouse, three times the size of Great Ouseburn and eight times the size of Little Ouseburn. It’s not been thought through and is careless.”

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Cllr Warneken said ‘99.9%’ of residents in the villages are “compassionate and understanding about the issue”. 

But he fears the centre, which has been dubbed “Guantanamo-on-Ouse” by a Lib Dem councillor, could become a target for far-right protestors.

He added:

“I’ve been out talking to people who were concerned this week. They are saying it’s not right for the asylum seekers or the community.”

Migration crisis

The government has said it hopes the changes will help it crack down on people-smuggling gangs.

According to the BBC, 28,526 people are known to have crossed the channel in small boats in 2021, up from 8,404 in 2020.

Home Secretary, Priti Patel, said:

“The global migration crisis and how we tackle illegal migration requires new world-leading solutions. There are an estimated 80 million people displaced in the world and the global approach to asylum and migration is broken.

“Existing approaches have failed and there is no single solution to tackle these problems. Change is needed because people are dying attempting to come to the UK illegally.”

Village on fringes of Harrogate district to house asylum seekers

The former RAF base at Linton-on-Ouse will be used to house asylum seekers, the government has announced today.

It’s part of a controversial Home Office plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda to have their asylum claims processed.

Before potentially being flown out to the African country, asylum seekers will be held in ‘reception centres’ across the UK for up to six months, with the first announced being at Linton-on-Ouse.

The site closed in 2020 after being used by the RAF for almost a century. It was most recently used as a jet training facility and Prince William trained there.

Although located in Hambleton, it is only about a mile from the Harrogate district, on the other side of the River Ouse. It’s close to villages Thorpe Underwood, Little Ouseburn and Nun Monkton.

Kevin Hollinrake, MP for Thirsk and Malton, said in a statement he had been assured by the immigration minister that the time limit for any asylum seekers to remain at the site will be 180 days

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The government said it hopes the changes will help it “crack down” on people-smuggling gangs.

According to the BBC, 28,526 people are known to have crossed the channel in small boats in 2021, up from 8,404 in 2020.

Home Secretary, Priti Patel, said:

“The global migration crisis and how we tackle illegal migration requires new world-leading solutions. There are an estimated 80 million people displaced in the world and the global approach to asylum and migration is broken.

“Existing approaches have failed and there is no single solution to tackle these problems. Change is needed because people are dying attempting to come to the UK illegally.

The proposal has been criticised by human rights groups and opposition political parties.

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called the proposals a “shameful announcement meant to distract from Boris Johnson’s recent law-breaking”.

She added:

“It is an unworkable, unethical and extortionate policy that would cost the UK taxpayer billions of pounds during a cost of living crisis and would make it harder not easier to get fast and fair asylum decisions.”

Andrew Jones MP defends supporting crime bill

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones has defended a crime bill that gives police new powers to deal with protests after it was criticised as a “fundamental attack” on freedom of speech.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill covers major government proposals on crime and justice, including changes to protests.

The bill passed its first hurdle this week after an overwhelming vote in favour by Conservative MPs.

All three Conservative MPs whose constituencies include the Harrogate district — Jones, Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith and Selby and Ainsty MP Nigel Adams — supported it.

The protest measures drawn up by ministers and police chiefs will mean more conditions are imposed on static demonstrations, including start and finish times, noise limits and penalties for activists causing “serious annoyance”.

At a meeting of North Yorkshire County Council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Committee today, Liberal Democrat councillor David Goode described the bill as a “a fundamental attack on our democratic rights”.

He said it would “significantly restrict” people’s rights to hold peaceful protests and asked Mr Jones why he voted for it.

Mr Jones responded:

“The underlying principle of freedom of speech and freedom to protest is absolutely unchanged.

“This is about making sure we can protest in a way which doesn’t stop people getting to work or a hospital appointment.

“It is possible to protest without impacting others so what we need to strike therefore is that balance and that is what the bill does.”

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The bill’s second reading was passed by 359 votes to 263 on Tuesday. It also contains dozens of new measures to increase sentences for child killers and other violent criminals, as well as tougher penalties for attacks on police officers and changes to sexual offences legislation.

The most controversial part, however, are the reforms on protests, which garnered extra interest after scenes of police officers restraining women attending a vigil in memory of Sarah Everard in London on Saturday.

At present, police need to prove protesters knew they had been told to move on before they can be said to have broken the law.

The bill proposes an offence of “intentionally or recklessly causing public nuisance”, which is designed to stop people occupying public spaces to make themselves both seen and heard.

The new laws would also give Home Secretary Priti Patel the authority to define “serious disruption to the life of the community” and “serious disruption to the activities of an organisation” — a concept opponents argue is not clear enough.

Speaking at a debate in the House of Commons this week, the Home Secretary defended the proposed changes to peaceful protests which she said are a “cornerstone of democracy”.

She said:

“This bill will give police the powers to take a more proactive approach in tackling dangerous and disruptive protests. The threshold at which the police can impose conditions on the use of noise at a protest is rightfully high.

“The majority of protesters will be able to continue to act, make noise as they do so now without police intervention.

“But we are changing it to allow the police to put conditions on noisy protests that cause significant disruption to those in the vicinity. As with all our proposals, the police response will still need to be proportionate.”

Strayside Sunday: politics isn’t Priti…

Strayside Sunday is our weekly political opinion column. It is written by Paul Baverstock, former Director of Communications for the Conservative Party. 

Great news for the residents of Spofforth; the relentless encroachment of concrete on countryside has been stopped, or at least paused.  Harrogate Borough Council planning committee made what sounds like a good decision this week to reject a planning application to build 72 homes in the village.

Having given outline approval for the scheme in March 2019, sight of final detailed plans for the development clearly spooked the council horse, with the planning committee voting it down 6-3 in the face of a council report recommending the application be granted.  Hurray.  Local residents had described the development as “a carbuncle of urban sprawl” and had mobilised an effective campaign to block it.  Historic England, Natural England, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, the council’s principal ecologist, North Yorkshire’s highways, the Lead Local Flood Authority and Spofforth Parish Council joined 300 residents in raising concerns about the scheme.  This is local democracy in action and is why we need more of it.  It demonstrates that politicians can do the right thing, if we pay enough attention, get organised and fight for a just cause.

Meanwhile, up the road on Long Lands Common, People Power has also won out.  A campaign to raise funds for the creation of a community forest, community owned and to be accessible for all, reached a key milestone of £300k.  This means the land can be bought, ensure we can enjoy verdant space and, of course, protect our environment. This is just brilliant news and further demonstrates what people can achieve when they act together for the common good.

One politician whom it seems can be guaranteed not to do the right thing is Priti Patel.  It turns out our hectoring, reactionary Home Secretary is a bully, so says Sir Alex Allan, the government’s independent advisors on standards.  It seems that in her dealings with her civil servants, including toward her Permanent Secretary Sir Philip Rutman, Ms. Patel’s behaviour (allegedly harassing and belittling) broke the ministerial code.  Sir Philip resigned (very publicly) in a huff and is now suing for wrongful dismissal.

Although I wish he wouldn’t, Boris will stand by her I suspect.  The Prime Minister is fast running out of political friends and allies, particularly those Brexiteer fellow travellers primarily responsible for his elevation.  Friends he chose at the very last when he wrote two versions of his referendum coming out article, one Remain, one Brexit, before sniffing the wind and throwing in with the Little Englanders.  With Cummings and Cain gone he can’t afford to lose Patel in close succession.  If Patel had any honour she would resign.  She doesn’t and she won’t.

(While writing I have just received a news notification on my mobile phone to report that Sir Alex Allan has resigned following Boris Johnson’s ruling that the Home Secretary had, in his view, not broken the ministerial code. The Prime Minister has, in effect, officially sanctioned bullying in his government.  It really is a world gone mad. Black is white. Up is down. White slacks after November 1st.  Red wine with fish.  It’s sickening). 

It isn’t as if the the Home Secretary doesn’t have form.  She had to resign her previous cabinet post as International Development Secretary in 2017, having been caught out freelancing in Israel with the Conservative Friends thereof (the CFI).  Forced to fly home in disgrace, on arrival she was photographed grinning like a Cheshire Cat from the front seat of a Jag.  Shameless.

Patel claimed she had been on a private holiday, although she had been accompanied on the trip by Lord Stuart Polak, the Chair of CFI.  They held upwards of a dozen meetings with Israeli government officials and political leaders.  Some holiday.  An even if you buy her version of events, what of her judgment?

This week’s further revelations of the way the government procured PPE equipment during the panic created by the advent of Covid are shocking.  A Spanish businessman, Gabriel Gonzalez Andersson, was paid a £21m commission by a Floridian Jeweller, Michael Saiger, to secure contracts worth a staggering quarter of a billion pounds for providing PPE at the height of the crisis.

I can forgive not buying British, what mattered then (as now) was saving lives.  I can forgive too using emergency powers, rather than the usual strangled, extended and often painful procurement processes.  What I can’t forgive is awarding contracts to suppliers with no prior experience in manufacturing essential medical equipment.  Saiger is a jewellery designer and owns a fashion brand for goodness sake.  Although the makers of novelty face coverings might beg to differ, looking good is not top priority during a pandemic.

Saiger is now reportedly suing Andersson for his middle-man money back.  Here at home The Good Law Group is on the case and is set to challenge the legality of the deal with the Department of Health and Social Care.  I hope the case succeeds, exposing as it does a total breakdown in good governance, a blithe disregard for the way taxpayers (yours and mine) money is spent and a supine acceptance of the worst consequences of the untrammelled market economy.  It drains the last reserves of my support for the Conservative supply-side ‘ideals’.  I’m currently reading a book called by Paul Collier and John Kay called “Greed is Dead; Politics After Individualism.”  All evidence to the contrary it seems.  Freedom should not be this expensive.

That’s my Strayside Sunday.

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The Stray Ferret has been investigating the unprecedented amount of housing development in the district and examining the impact of Harrogate Borough Council’s failure to have a Local Development Plan up to March 2020. 
In a series of special reports each morning from tomorrow we will be asking: 
Building Boom or Housing Crisis– have the wrong homes been built, in the wrong places at the wrong price?