Prime Minister Andy Burnham has suggested that wealthier parts of the UK should take on a greater share of housing asylum seekers, warning that it cannot fall only to the poorest communities to receive the country’s dispersed refugees.
Burnham’s call for fairer dispersal
“We cannot have a situation where it’s only the poorest communities in the country that receive all of the dispersal of refugees and asylum seekers,” the Prime Minister told GB News. He added that “all parts of the country need to work, to play their part” after being asked about demonstrations in the village of Piddington, Oxfordshire.
The Piddington protests
The comments came amid protests over plans to house asylum seekers at a nearby former military base. Residents of Piddington have even voted to stage a symbolic referendum on leaving the UK, underscoring the depth of local feeling about the accommodation proposal.
From hotels to military bases
Labour has pledged to end the use of asylum hotels, a costly form of accommodation that has become a flashpoint for anti-migrant protests. Instead, the government is turning to military sites, announcing in June it would open three more, including a location in Bicester, Oxfordshire.
The government’s accommodation strategy
The shift is intended to cut the expense of hotel stays while moving asylum support out of lower-income urban neighbourhoods that have historically carried a disproportionate load.
The numbers behind the system
Government statistics show 97,519 people were in receipt of asylum support at the end of March, with 20,885 in hotel accommodation, a figure ministers are keen to drive down.
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Opposition response
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp dismissed the remarks, saying: “We shouldn’t be housing illegal immigrants anywhere – wealthy or not,” and reiterated the Conservatives’ plan to leave the European Convention on Human Rights to enable faster deportations.
A long-running north-south tension
As former mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham has long argued the north-west hosted 25% of asylum applicants needing housing, with Greater Manchester carrying 70% of that regional total. His latest intervention revives a debate about how fairly the burden is shared across Britain.
Outlook
The Prime Minister says he will listen to Piddington’s concerns while holding firm on broader reform. With protests spreading to places such as Thetford, the question of who houses asylum seekers looks set to remain one of the most divisive issues in British politics.
Source: Original report. Rewrite for Your News Website.
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