Andy Burnham blasted over asylum housing plan as Linton-on-Ouse residents face '£500 a night' cost to use ex-military base

Thank you for subscribing!

The Prime Minister has said that all areas of the UK should 'play their part' in housing asylum seekers

Andy Burnham has been blasted for his "contradictory" efforts to tackle the migrant crisis after residents of Linton-on-Ouse calculated the estimated daily cost of housing asylum seekers in their community.

Speaking to GB News, spokeswoman for Linton-on-Ouse Action group Olga Matthias revealed villagers are facing a "£500 a night cost" to house asylum seekers in an ex-military base there.

The Government has earmarked the former RAF base to house 1,200 migrants in the North Yorkshire village earlier this year as part of the Labour's bid to close all asylum hotels by 2029.

However, in a 27-page-long appeal, locals ripped into the "insane" move that risks handing more than £400million to migrants over its three-year runtime.

Highlighting the Prime Minister's latest pledge of £442million to end rough sleeping "by Christmas", GB News host Emily Carver questioned how the Government is "so able to find accommodation for people who have arrived here illegally" and yet "struggle" with getting the homeless off the streets?

Ms Matthias responded: "It's a question that's been asked for a number of years, and it's not the first time that question's been asked, but it is the first time that a Prime Minister has pledged to get the nation's homeless off the streets.

"What's also interesting is this figure of £442million to do that. Reportedly, £102million of that is new money, the rest of is money that's already been pledged, so if I may suggest there's some poetic license there with what's going to be new, what's going to be dynamic, and what's just rehashed ideas and statements and lovely sound bites for and photo opportunities, probably."

Taking aim at Andy Burnham, the campaigner argued that although the Prime Minister makes "multiple pledges", he never says "how he's going to do it".

She said: "Andy Burnham has made multiple pledges, they've covered social care, he's listening to all us citizens, voters, he's pledged that we will have growth in every postcode, hope in every heart, and yet there's no actual how.

"How will he do this? The only how that has been provided by the Government is we will put asylum seekers in former military bases. The whole thing is a set of contradictions.

"On the Home Office website, the opening sentence is 'it is the Government's duty, first responsibility to keep its citizens safe and secure'. Now, they're not doing that with most of us in rural areas, because that's where an awful lot of the military bases are."

Citing the Government's proportionality figures, Ms Matthias stressed that their village of just 700 people should only be receiving "three migrants", not 1,200.

She argued: "A Labour MP told GB News this weekend that this isn't class warfare, they're trying to spread the load equally and fairly.

"Government proportionality figures state that it should be one asylum seeker per 200 of population. We are a village of about 700, of which 100 are children, so proportionally we should have three, not 1,200."

Asked by host Mark White whether the treatment of Britons compared to asylum seekers is a "stick in the craw" to their villagers, Ms Matthias completely agreed.

She said: "And what we've seen is that in reality, when homeless people are taken off the streets in Manchester, they've all come back or the numbers have gone up. This pledge again is a good soundbite, but is it forever, just for Christmas, or before Christmas?

"In our previous campaign, which we won against the Conservative Government, we found out that we, the resident population, some of us are fairly new residents, but we don't have any rights.

"It's been stated by various Government lawyers that the people that come in have more rights than us. They are looked after more than us."

In a statement, a Home Office spokesman told GB News: "We're closing every asylum hotel and moving asylum seekers into basic accommodation, including ex-military sites..

"The plan to move migrants to military sites is fairer because it takes the burden off poorer communities where many asylum seekers are currently housed in hotels."