Linton on Ouse: Campaigners share their joy asylum seeker centre is scrapped as Whitehall row brews

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace yesterday made a surprise public announcement during a visit to Huddersfield alongside Tory leadership contender Liz Truss that he had withdrawn a Ministry of Defence offer for the Home Office to house up to 1,500 asylum seekers in a former RAF base at Linton-on-Ouse near York.

The remarks from Mr Wallace, who is supporting Ms Truss’s campaign, came just hours after her leadership rival Rishi Sunak told The Yorkshire Post he wanted to scrap the plan.

The announcement sparked a Whitehall row with Home Office unhappiness at the scrapping of a previously collectively-agreed Government policy. But an MoD source said Mr Wallace had ordered civil servants to formally withdraw the offer late last month.

Mr Wallace said: “I have withdrawn the offer to the Home Office for that site. It’s been with them for a number of months. I have obligations to do something else with that site, and you know there are other sites we made available to the Home Office if they wish to take it up.”

"Distress and Anguish"

The Linton Action Group, which is formed of villagers united against the proposals, said yesterday the plans had been a “waste of time, money and angst.”

A spokesperson said: “We are quite emotional today and are delighted for all the villagers who have had this uncertainty hanging over them for months now.

“Had the Home Office done their research before making any announcement, they would have seen Linton-on-Ouse was the wrong place.”

Kelly Kirby, a member of the group, told The Yorkshire Post: “There was some trepidation as the news started trickling through - you don’t want to get your hopes up too much - but I’m absolutely delighted.

“Our lives have been put on hold. It’s caused distress and anguish, and has devastated the village. It’s a different story for everyone. Some have struggled to sell their houses, and parents have had difficult conversations with their children in terms of how the village was going to change.

“It’s awakened the campaigner in many of us. It’s the wrong plan for everywhere.”

Sunak's announcement "upped the ante"

The village’s MP Kevin Hollinrake said he believed Mr Sunak’s vow to scrap the site had “upped the political ante” for the Truss-supporting Ben Wallace to make the announcement.

Mr Hollinrake, who has thrown his weight behind Mr Sunak’s campaign, said he had not been given any indication from the Government that the site was being withdrawn prior to yesterday.

“Clearly there’s a bit of upping the political ante in this,” he said.

“I’m absolutely delighted - and most delighted for the residents of the village.

“A massive burden has been lifted off their shoulders .”

Whitehall row brewing

It emerged last night that the MoD never formally signed over the RAF base to the Home Office after offering it to them for temporary surge accommodation in March.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Greek-style asylum reception centres are a collectively agreed policy as part of the New Plan for Immigration and the government will continue to identify appropriate sites.

“They play a key role in reducing the number of people in hotels which cost the taxpayer almost £5 million each day.”

But last night tensions deepened as a Whitehall source told The Yorkshire Post that the Home Office had to “drag” other departments to care about migration.

“You only need to look at Greece as to how successful reception centres have been at reducing the pull factor. 1,200 more migrants will now be in hotels,” they said.

“This was a collectively agreed policy as far back as December - we are used to having to drag other departments along to care about tackling illegal migration.”

A Ministry of Defence source last night denied Ben Wallace had sidelined Home Secretary Priti Patel by making a major announcement directly affecting her flagship immigration policy.

The source said: “The Defence Secretary was answering an interview question, we don’t make announcements on behalf of the Home Office. He just gave a straight answer.”

The source said the Home Office had been warned in June by the MoD about delays to providing handover paperwork, with the offer withdrawn after an extended deadline to complete it was not met.

“The Home Office was warned and warned, so it’s not just about a single letter but they were notified on June 20 that this would happen.”