Linton-on-Ouse villagers have been ignored over asylum centre plan - The Yorkshire Post says

It bears repeating that this plan was hatched without the consultation of locals, who have since expressed much anxiety about what village protestors have decried as the “wrong plan, wrong place”.

When they were finally consulted during a meeting attended by Home Office officials, it seemed to have made little difference as the proposals for the former RAF base were not even paused for details to be scrutinised.

Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton, Kevin Hollinrake, earlier this month called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to stop the plan outright, citing that it will “devastate the community, it will devastate house prices”.

His intervention has clearly not dented the resolve of Ministers, which begs the question, what is the point of a constituency MP if they have expressed the views of locals only to be shrugged off?

Amid reports that Home Secretary Priti Patel was planning to visit the village, this newspaper called on her to do so and for that to be an opportunity to face locals. We have heard nothing more about it.

Those arriving in the hope of claiming asylum will not be begrudged the a safe haven. Many in Yorkshire will have enormous sympathy for those who have been uprooted and displaced in unimaginably awful circumstances.

However the genuine concerns and fears of locals have fallen on deaf ears.

It is little wonder that faith in the Government’s so-called levelling-up agenda has plummeted.

As their views go unheeded, Linton-on-Ouse villagers will be forgiven for believing that Westminster exists in its own bubble of power, one that cares not a jot for them.