Jenrick announces new migrant housing in PM’s constituency

The Government’s asylum seeker centres on former RAF bases will do “untold damage” to the “social fabric” of the tiny villages they are set up in, Brexit champion Ben Habib has said.

The former MEP told Express.co.uk that he has “complete sympathy” with the people of Wethersfield and Scampton, two of the villages that will host the asylum seeker bases. He fears the consequences of the Government’s handling of the migrant crisis will be permanent.

Yesterday immigration minister Robert Jenrick revealed plans to use the former airbases at Wethersfield and Scampton as well as a converted barge, to house asylum seekers that are currently being kept in hotels.

However, Mr Habib said the move would incur a serious social cost.

He said: “We talk about the plight that these people have but no one ever gives any thought to the damage it’s doing to our country.

“Leave the costs aside, what we are doing is untold damage to the social fabric of the United Kingdom and it’s heartbreaking.

“There’s no going back. We are doing damage which we will live to regret.”

The 57-year-old Reform UK member also said, irrespective of the harm the asylum centres will do to Wethersfield, Scampton and Britain as a whole, that the use of RAF bases and a barge to house migrants is an ineffective measure.

He argued: “A barge and a couple of hostels at the RAF bases is not going to deal with the complete backlog of asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

“Of course, it’s a matter of principle, they should not be put in any hotels, ever.”

Mr Jenrick’s plans are a “drop in the ocean compared to what’s required to house these people”, he said.

“The Government has completely failed at every step to get a grip on the problem.”

Express.co.uk has also spoken to residents that are speaking out against the Government’s asylum seeker centre, which is to be situated right on their doorstep.

Tony Clarke-Holland, a leading member of the Fields Association, the group leading the charge against the Home Office, accused Mr Jenrick of “piling” the country’s asylum seeker crisis onto the tiny village of Wethersfield.

He said: “Listening to the guy, he said ‘we are trying to take the pressure off local communities’ [by taking asylum seekers out of hotels], but then they are just piling them on another community, so all they are doing is moving the problem.

“As far as saving money’s concerned… how much are they going to spend moving families out? Refurbishing the whole place?

“Then because they are [the asylum seekers] not detained… they are going to lay on minibuses or something. Well, how many minibuses [will be needed] for 2000 people, migrants, staff, security staff, it goes on and on doesn’t it.”

Now Rishi Sunak faces a legal battle as the local district council has confirmed that they have commenced litigation. Meanwhile, Mr Clarke-Holland’s son, who is in his twenties, has started fundraising for his own legal proceedings.

Braintree council has told local MPs: “We have now applied to the High Court for an interim injunction. This injunction challenges the Home Office’s proposals to place asylum seekers at Wethersfield Airfield.

“We would expect such an application would be heard within seven days, and we expect the matter to be heard by the High Court before any asylum seekers are occupied on site. We will provide further updates as we know more.”

The Home Office has been approached for comment.

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