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Labour has committed to ending the use of asylum hotels, which are expensive accommodations that have triggered anti-migrant demonstrations. In response, the government has turned to utilizing military facilities nationwide to house migrants, announcing plans in June to open three additional sites, including one located in Bicester, Oxfordshire.
These proposals have sparked protests locally, with residents from the nearby village of Piddington organizing a symbolic referendum on whether to leave the United Kingdom. Responding to these concerns on Tuesday, Andy Burnham expressed a willingness to listen and address the issues raised by the community. He said, “I don’t know the issue yet in detail, but in some ways, as I understand it, it is about creating secure space,” and affirmed his intention to investigate further. Nonetheless, Burnham emphasized the importance of regional cooperation by stating, “I do believe all parts of the country need to work, to play their part.”
Following his victory in the Makerfield by-election in June, Burnham pledged to dismantle what he called “HMO Britain,” referring to the widespread use of houses in multiple occupation as asylum seeker accommodation. These types of housing have commonly been deployed by government contractors in lower-income urban areas. Meanwhile, recent weeks have seen anti-immigration protests elsewhere, such as in Thetford, Norfolk, where demonstrators tried to gain entry into homes suspected of housing asylum seekers.
In response to Burnham’s comments, Conservative politician Philip noted the party’s stance on removing the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights to facilitate the deportation of migrants to their home or a safe third country like Rwanda. On social media, he criticized Burnham by stating, “Andy Burnham just doesn’t get it,” and advocating for the swift deportation of illegal immigrants. According to government data released at the end of March, there were 97,519 individuals receiving asylum support, with 20,885 housed in hotels. Seventy-two thousand seven hundred sixty-eight people were accommodated elsewhere, including in community dispersal housing, and 3,866 received only subsistence support. The regions with the highest numbers of supported asylum seekers included the north-west of England, London, the West Midlands, and Yorkshire and the Humber. Specifically, the north-east and north-west had the greatest asylum seeker populations proportional to their overall residency.
During his tenure as mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham previously threatened to prevent the region from taking in additional asylum seekers, citing the strain on local services and an uneven distribution system. At that time, he highlighted that the north-west hosted 25% of all asylum seekers needing housing and support across the country, while Greater Manchester alone housed 70% of the region’s total. The then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid responded by promising efforts to create a fairer national distribution of asylum seekers
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