Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has entered the growing national debate over the proposed use of MOD Bicester Site A, strongly criticising Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s approach to the distribution of asylum accommodation.
Writing in the Daily Mail, Mrs Badenoch accused the Prime Minister of pursuing a politically motivated policy by placing large asylum accommodation sites in areas that do not traditionally support Labour.
Her comments followed Mr Burnham’s recent response to concerns raised by residents of Piddington, near MOD Bicester Site A.
The Government is proposing to accommodate approximately 1,250 single adult male asylum seekers at the former military site.
Badenoch challenges Prime Minister’s argument
Mr Burnham has argued that responsibility for accommodating asylum seekers needs to be distributed more fairly across the country and should not fall disproportionately on poorer communities.
Mrs Badenoch strongly disputed the reasoning behind that approach.
She accused the Government of targeting what she described as quiet, middle-class communities that do not vote Labour, specifically referring to Piddington and Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire, where another former military site is being considered for asylum accommodation.
Mrs Badenoch compared the approach with an earlier proposal from Reform UK to locate migrant detention centres in constituencies represented by Green MPs.
She described the two approaches as being based on the “same rotten principle”, arguing that communities should not be treated differently because of how they vote.
These are Mrs Badenoch’s allegations; the Government rejects the suggestion that its policy is politically motivated.
Government says accommodation should be distributed fairly
The Government’s stated position is that asylum accommodation should be spread more fairly across the country rather than concentrated in communities where accommodation is cheaper.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has previously said that the poorest communities should not receive all of the dispersal of refugees and asylum seekers and that every part of the country needs to play its part.
A Government spokesperson quoted by the Daily Mail said the Government is working to close asylum hotels and move people into more basic accommodation, including former military sites.
The Government also said it is working with local authorities and listening to concerns in order to reduce the impact on communities.
MOD Bicester now part of a national debate
The intervention from the Conservative leader means the MOD Bicester proposal is increasingly becoming part of a wider national political discussion about where and how asylum seekers should be accommodated.
For Wrong Plan. Wrong Site., however, the central question remains much more specific:
Is MOD Bicester Site A an appropriate location for accommodation on this scale?
Our campaign is not arguing that asylum accommodation should simply be moved from Oxfordshire to another community.
We believe the MOD Bicester proposal should be assessed on the evidence – including its scale, rural location, transport and pedestrian access, infrastructure, healthcare provision, utilities, environmental impact, cost and the capacity of surrounding communities.
Whether an area is considered wealthy or how its residents vote does not answer those questions.
Wrong Plan. Wrong Site. will continue to call for the proposal to be assessed on its merits, with full transparency, proper planning and meaningful scrutiny of the evidence before any final decision is made.
