Ex-RAF Scampton asylum camp plan 'disrespectful' to locals - Starmer

It is "disrespectful" to use the former RAF Scampton as an asylum centre without the consent of the local community, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

Home Office plans to house up to 2,000 asylum seekers at the Lincolnshire site have met with strong opposition.

The government had "got it completely wrong" over its proposals for Scampton, the Labour leader told the BBC.

However, the Home Office said using surplus military sites was "more affordable for taxpayers".

In an interview with BBC Look North, Sir Keir said he would not have agreed to house asylum seekers at the former RAF site, once home to the Dambusters squadron and, more recently, the Red Arrows.

He said that a £300m deal struck earlier this year to regenerate the site, with the aim of transforming it into a business, aerospace and heritage centre, was "a huge, fantastic thing for the local economy - and this is going to drive a coach-and-four through".

Sir Keir added: "I also think it is disrespectful to impose it on local people without their consent and consultation with them."

The Labour leader said he believed the plans for the Scampton site were "in principal, not the right response to the problem".

"If you really want to deal with this problem, the most important thing to do is to smash the criminal gangs putting people in boats in the first place to come across the Channel. The government has lost control of that."

People would be "astonished to learn" that of all the people who arrived by small boats in the last year, only 1% had so far had their asylum claims processed, Sir Keir said.

A judicial review into the Home Office's plans for the Scampton site is due to take place at the end of this month.

Campaigners have staged a number of protests over the plans for the ex-RAF station, and historians have objected due to the site's links with the Dambusters squadron.

West Lindsey District Council also recently issued a temporary stop notice to work being carried out there by the Home Office.

However, on Wednesday the local authority said the work had been continuing at the site, despite the Home Office having said it was complying with the terms of the stop notice.

The Home Office has refused to confirm or deny to the BBC if work was still going on.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, local councillors expected the first wave of up to 50 asylum seekers to arrive at Scampton as early as next week.

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