RAF Linton-on-Ouse: plans to house asylum seekers in 'middle class areas' are matter of 'fairness', minister says

RAF Linton-on-Ouse, in North Yorkshire, is one of three MoD sites where the Government is seeking planning permission to turn it into a camp for around 1,300 asylum seekers.

Plans to house asylum seekers in more “middle-class areas” are a matter of “fairness”, a Home Office minister has said, amid fury over proposals to move migrants to a North Yorkshire village.

RAF Linton-on-Ouse is one of three MoD sites where the Government is seeking planning permission to turn it into a camp for around 1,300 asylum seekers.

This is roughly double the size of the military base’s village, Linton-on-Ouse, which locals say is not appropriate for such a large influx of people.

However, ministers have pledged to do “whatever it takes” to close asylum hotels and are braced for a battle over plans to move the migrants into former military barracks.

On Tuesday, the Home Office announced that the Dubrovnik Hotel, in Bradford, and the Grand Metropole Hotel, in Blackpool, would no longer house asylum seekers.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said wealthier parts of the UK would have to “play their part” in housing asylum seekers.

Home Office Minister Anna Turley told LBC it is a matter of “fairness” for asylum seekers to be housed in such areas.

She said poorer areas with lower property prices had already taken their “fair share” of migrants.

Ms Turley said: “They’re not going to be in the village, they’re going to be contained in a former military base, they will be allowed out, everything they need will be on that site.”

She added: “We are looking at former military bases around the country, we’re also looking at former industrial sites, student accommodation, other means by which we can put people in secure places that is contained and is manageable – going back to the beginning of our conversation – is more affordable than putting people in hotels.”

However, the comments sparked fury from MP for Wetherby and Easingwold, Sir Alec Shelbrooke, who represents Linton-on-Ouse.

He said: “Is housing 1,200 single males who entered the UK illegally a fair share for Linton-on-Ouse? No, Prime Minister, it isn't.

“This week, the new government doubled-down on its plan saying affluent areas housing more migrants is ‘a matter of fairness’.

“It's not fair. It's the wrong plan in the wrong place.”

The main concerns with the project, raised by MPs, North Yorkshire Council and local residents, is that the village does not have the infrastructure to cope with more than 1,000 men.

Sir Alec explained that “nothing had changed” since the previous plans were dropped in 2022. Indeed, since then, the village shop has closed.

He told The Yorkshire Post: “We have shown in the past, four years ago, that the Linton-on-Ouse site is unable to cope with 1,000 people going into a small village with no shop, no amenities.

“I have been told by utility companies that they cannot supply the electricity and water demands, and that would need upgrading.

“Four years ago the site was rejected on technical grounds, those technical grounds have not changed.”

Ms Turley said closures of asylum hotels since Labour came into power had already saved £1bn.

Speaking about a similar case in Oxfordshire, she said: “The reality is, this is a military base that is outside the village. Instead, it’s self-contained.”

However, Linton-on-Ouse locals say as the RAF base is inside the village, it cannot be contained on the military base.