Andy Burnham's plan to “spread” Channel migrants across the country “shows how out of touch he is”, critics have blasted. The Prime Minister sparked fury after claiming “all parts of the country need to play their part” and house more asylum seekers.
Home Office admits civil unrest
A Home Office minister admitted a failure to stop small-boat crossings has led to “civil unrest” in the poorer communities bearing the brunt of the crisis because there is cheaper housing. But critics warned that Labour is planning to “spread the misery” into more affluent areas – the suburbs and shires – “so everybody suffers”. They claimed the “solution is to deport illegal immigrants” instead.
It comes as fears intensify over a surge in arrivals linked to mega dinghies crossing the Channel. A record 230 people were detected on a single vessel on Monday.
Shadow Home Secretary's response
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “Andy Burnham’s suggestion that middle-class areas, or areas where hard-working families live, should have illegal immigrants imposed on them just shows how out of touch he is.
"It's absolutely disgraceful that Andy Burnham seems to think the solution to this is to spread the illegal immigrants around the country, so everybody suffers with these mostly young men living in their neighbourhood.
“In fact, the solution is to deport illegal immigrants immediately. Just deport them straight away. They shouldn’t be accommodated anywhere, not in hotels, not in villages, anywhere.”
Home Office minister defends plan
Home Office minister Anna Turley said communities where “housing is perhaps cheaper and more plentiful have had to take more than their fair share of asylum seekers”. She added: “That’s put a huge burden on local communities and created real civil unrest, so we want to make sure that we’re managing the system much better in a more sustained way that’s reducing the impact on local communities.”
But Mr Philp warned of more civil unrest. He said: "No community should have to put up with that. These illegal immigrants should be deported. It's Andy Burnham's job to do that, but he's failing to do it. He's failing even to recognise that it's his job, which is even worse."
Under Home Office plans, a former military base in Bicester, Oxfordshire, will provide accommodation for 1,250 male asylum seekers. But the residents of Piddington, which sits near the proposed site, have voted to stage a symbolic referendum on leaving the UK as part of their protests against the plans.
Robert Bates, research director at the Centre for Migration Control, said: “Burnham clearly has no plan to stop the boats, and is instead openly discussing plans to spread the misery further around the country.
“No British community should be forced to accept unvetted men from culturally distant nations. It is an attack on the social contract.
“Promising migrants that they will be guaranteed accommodation and extensive support is exactly why the boats are continuing to cross, and why the people smugglers will be filled with glee at the Prime Minister’s comments.”
Service User Demand Plans, which set out how many people can be accommodated in each region, allocated 114,791 spaces for asylum seekers across the country. Almost 70,000 have already been housed, with another 66,021 waiting for a home.
The North-east of England and the North-west have both surged past their targets but need to find additional homes for 2,000 people between them. By contrast, asylum accommodation providers are hunting for space for 12,032 migrants in South-east England, according to the most recent Home Office documents. But 3,118 are already living there, and the plan only allows for 14,092. Another 12,206 need to be accommodated in London, the document sent to the Home Affairs Select Committee revealed.
Ms Turley defended the proposals, telling LBC: “This is about fairness. This is making sure that there is distribution around the country, and this is about a more fair and equitable system that limits the impact on local communities.
Asked about a potential influx of asylum seekers three times as large as Piddington's population, the Home Office minister said: “Well, I suppose they're not going to be in the village. They're going to be contained in a former military base.
But pressed on whether asylum seekers would be free to leave the site, Ms Turley replied: “They will be allowed out, but everything they need will be on that site. So they will be managed. They will be contained.
She added: “They're on a self-contained site. We are looking at former military bases around the country.
“We are also looking at former industrial sites, student accommodation, other means by which we can put people in secure places that are manageable and ... more affordable than putting people in hotels.
“We know where people are. We can manage the system.” Asked if she would be happy for a similar number of people to arrive in her Redcar constituency, Ms Turley said: “We don't have a former military base ... but the reality is it's about fairness.
“The point the Prime Minister was making was this is about fairness. We take our fair share of asylum seekers in Redcar, and the point is lots of working-class places around the country – I talked about Blackpool, places with hotels – have had to bear more than their fair share.
“And this is about fairness. This is making sure that there is distribution around the country, and that this is about a more fair and equitable system that limits the impact on local communities.
“By having secure and maintained and managed facilities like former military bases, it's a much better way to keep people in one place and reduce the impact on local communities.”
