Tory MP blasts Rishi Sunak after 'U-turn on asylum seekers in his own patch'

05 September 2023 , 15:24

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Rishi Sunak previously said he'd welcome moving asylum seekers onto Catterick Garrison barracks in his constituency (Image: AP)

Rishi Sunak has come under fire from a former Tory minister after it emerged asylum seekers won't be housed in a base in the PM's constituency.

Mr Sunak has previously said he would welcome the Catterick Garrison barracks in his Richmond patch in Yorkshire being used, with allies saying he was "showing leadership". But today veteran backbencher Sir Edward Leigh, who served in Margaret Thatcher's Government, claimed that this was no longer happening.

Sir Edward is furious over plans to move people into RAF Scampton in his own constituency - and seemed none too impressed with Mr Sunak. Speaking in the Commons, Sir Edward said: "When the Prime Minister announced that he was imperilling £300 million worth of levelling up on RAF Scampton he said he was going to lead by example by accepting migrants into Catterick camp in his constituency.

Veteran Tory MP Sir Edward Leigh vented his anger (AFP via Getty Images)

"Home Office officials have now informed us that is not happening, so where is the leadership in that? And it gets worse," he said, adding has been told "the value for money infinitesimal compared to hotels, it won't even save money for a few days on hotels."

In March Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick told MPs that the PM is “showing leadership” by personally “bringing forward proposals to provide accommodation in Catterick Garrison barracks in his constituency”.

Out of touch Rishi Sunak doesn't regularly read papers or online news sites

Following Sir Edward's question, Mr Jenrick said: "We do believe that this policy is in the national interest. It's right that those coming to this country are accommodated in decent but never luxurious accommodation so we don't create a pull factor to the UK."

The Immigration Minister claimed the he Government is on track to clear the "legacy" asylum backlog by the end of the year. He said in a statement: "We have transformed the productivity of asylum decision-making by streamlining processes, creating focused interviews and instilling true accountability for performance.

"As of first of September, we have met our commitment to have 2,500 decision makers, an increase of 174% from the same point last year. As a result, I'm pleased to report to the House that we are on track to clear the legacy backlog by the end of the year and the recently published provisional figures for July showed that the overall backlog fell."

But his Labour counterpart struck back. Stephen Kinnock said a strategy that depends on the weather is "probably not a very sustainable strategy at all". Mr Kinnock told MPs: "I'm absolutely bewildered after the summer that we've had that yesterday the Prime Minister claimed victory in his broken pledge to stop the boats.

"This Saturday we saw this year's record number of Channel crossings, more than 870 people making that dangerous journey in a single day. And the total number has now soared to a whopping 21,000 for the year. The only reason the number isn't breaking last year's record is because of the poor weather in July and August. And a strategy that depends on the weather is probably not a very sustainable strategy at all."

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Dave Burke