Linton On Ouse campaigners hope new Prime Minister will cancel asylum seeker centre plans at the RAF base in their village

A campaign group in Linton-on-Ouse is calling for the Prime Minister replacing Boris Johnson to call off the asylum seeker centre plans.

A campaign group battling the Government’s plans to open an asylum seeker processing centre at the RAF base in their village have expressed hopes the new Prime Minister will cancel the plans.

Residents in Linton-on-Ouse have been supported by Hambleton District Council and their MP, Conservative Kevin Hollinrake, in their fight against the Home Office.

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The centre, which does not yet have an opening date, could see up to 1500 lone men living in the village’s disused RAF base while their asylum seeker claims are considered.

Campaigners outside Linton-on-Ouse Village Hall, where members of the parish council met to discuss a Home Office proposed asylum seeker centre in May. (Pic credit: Jonathan Gawthorpe)Campaigners outside Linton-on-Ouse Village Hall, where members of the parish council met to discuss a Home Office proposed asylum seeker centre in May. (Pic credit: Jonathan Gawthorpe)
Campaigners outside Linton-on-Ouse Village Hall, where members of the parish council met to discuss a Home Office proposed asylum seeker centre in May. (Pic credit: Jonathan Gawthorpe)

It forms part of Boris Johnson’s flagship immigration policy, which also covers controversial plans to deport people to Rwanda.

But with a new Prime Minister - and potential Home Secretary - on the horizon, campaigners are hoping the plans will never come to fruition.

Olga Matthias of the Linton Action Group said: “The mood is hopeful and that we will get an incumbent who is serious and measured with the ability to look at the facts and make a considered decision.

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“Our strapline is ‘wrong plan, wrong place. The root of the problem is the Home Office.’”

Ms Matthias said the group would be campaigning all of the leadership candidates to come out against the plans as part of their pitch to Tory MPs.

But Kevin Hollinrake, who has already come out for former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, said his support was not subject to Mr Sunak pledging against the centre.

“I don’t think that’s the kind of thing that would be constructive or helpful, but it’s a conversation I’ve had with various parties already,” he said.

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