Minister should accept invitation and engage with Linton-on-Ouse villagers
The villagers of Linton-on-Ouse have repeatedly made clear why they are opposed to the plans to house asylum seekers there. Their concerns are totally understandable. It is a small village that does not have the infrastructure to cope with a huge influx of migrants.
What would be worse than imposing ill-thought-through plans on the people of Linton-on-Ouse would be to do so without even engaging with villagers.
It would make a mockery of the idea of putting power back into the hands of communities.
That is why the least that Asylum Minister Anna Turley should be doing is accepting the invitation of Linton-on-Ouse residents and looking at the potential impact an asylum centre would have on the village.
Turley has a strong track record of listening to voters and The Yorkshire Post urges her to not only accept the invite from residents in Linton-on-Ouse but engage with them in a sincere manner.
The idea of a migrant processing centre which houses asylum seekers until the authorities are able to carry out background checks would not be opposed by communities if it was secure.
As it stands, despite Government assurances there are doubts as to whether asylum seekers will be kept contained to these centres.
The challenge for the Government is that such an approach could potentially be at odds with human rights legislation.
It’s not unreasonable to ask why such legislation is allowed to usurp sovereignty when it comes to dealing with immigration.