The ill-thought out plan to house around 1,500 asylum seekers at a former RAF base in Linton-on-Ouse should never have made it past the front door of the Home Office.

However, after causing months of undue anxiety to local residents, the Government has finally agreed to ditch this deeply unpopular proposal.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who is backing Liz Truss in the leadership race for the Tory Party, said he has “withdrawn” the offer for the disused North Yorkshire RAF base to be used to house asylum seekers.

This is a welcome move and will no doubt put local residents at ease.

Campaigners against the proposed asylum seeker centre at the former RAF base.

In MP Kevin Hollinrake’s words, “a massive burden has been lifted off their shoulders” and they can enjoy the rest of their summer and indeed go on about their lives.

It signals a victory for common sense with even refugee rights campaigners hitting out against the proposals, which risked causing further distress to the asylum seekers.

The backlash was never about nimbyism. It was about the lack of suitability of the proposals.

Linton-on-Ouse residents should never have been put through this in the first place.

The reversal comes off the back of leadership rival Rishi Sunak’s pledge to cancel plans to open the centre, should he be elected as the next Prime Minister.

Not to be outflanked, Mr Wallace came out fighting for the Truss campaign, announcing that he had “withdrawn the offer” of the site to the Home Office while hitting back at Mr Sunak saying that he was supportive of the controversial plans while he was still in Government.

Whatever the outcome of the increasingly ill-tempered leadership tussle, the winner must not renege on their pledge to scrap these proposals. It would not only be a betrayal of the good people of Linton-on-Ouse but also of the asylum seekers and common sense.

Welcome end in sight for ill-thought proposals to house asylum seekers in Linton-on-Ouse - The Yorkshire Post says