Linton-on-Ouse: asylum seeker 'Sword of Damocles' has been unsheathed

Once described by those living in Linton-on-Ouse as the sword of Damocles hanging over a community, the plan to warehouse hundreds of single male asylum seekers in its former RAF base was thought long-ago abandoned when then Defence Secretary Ben Wallace declared it, in 2022, as a non-starter.

Now, said sword has been drawn once again and hangs more perilously even than by a single horse hair over the people of Linton-on-Ouse after a Home Office announcement last month revealed the defunct plan has been dusted off, resurrected and once again the quiet, remote village, that has scant amenities and services even for the current population, is in the cross-hairs of the plan once again.

Now, a cross-party group of MPs, that includes former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, is imploring Prime Minister Andy Burnham to intervene, in the form of a co-signed letter authored by the leader of North Yorkshire Council, Carl Les.

It is, of course, the first duty of this newspaper to campaign for the wishes and wellbeing of the communities it serves, which is why today this newspaper stands in support of Messrs Sunak and Les, as well as others including MP Kevin Hollinrake and MP Rachel Maskell.

The prospect of parachuting more than a thousand single, adult men – they would outnumber the entire population of the current village by two-to-one – whose culture, experiences and worldview would likely be alien to that of a quiet, rural, countryside village is a preposterous one.

The thought of a Labour Government, too, treating those seeking asylum in this country no better than battery hens under asbestos sheds, is no less astonishing. The York and North Yorkshire Mayor, Labour’s David Skaith, is right: this is simply, categorically the wrong place for this plan and no passage of time changes the facts of the matter.