Conservative-led council preparing legal action to stop asylum seekers being housed in RAF base

A council in Essex is preparing to apply to the High Court to block plans to house asylum seekers at a former RAF base.

Braintree District Council said papers will be lodged “imminently” with the expectation their application will be heard within a week of being submitted.

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They said the injunction “challenges the Home Office proposals to place asylum seekers at Wethersfield Airfield”.

West Lindsey District Council in Lincolnshire, home to a second RAF site where asylum seekers could be housed, has also told Sky News they are considering “all options” including High Court litigation.

Braintree said the decision was made due to “ongoing considerations and concerns” about the government’s plans.

While the statement did not go into detail about those concerns, the Conservative-led council has previously said the “isolated” location was not suitable due to “low capacity in local services”.

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Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, the MP for Braintree, has also highlighted these concerns.

But on Wednesday deputy prime minister Dominic Raab claimed his cabinet colleague was now on board with the plan, telling Sky News: “I know he fully supports this policy.”

The Home Office is trying to end its reliance on hotel accommodation for asylum seekers, which it says costs the tax payer £6m a day.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick is expected to announce later that two RAF bases – one in Essex and one in Lincolnshire – will be used to house people waiting to have asylum claims processed.

It is hoped this will act as a deterrent for those planning to cross the Channel, with a source telling Sky’s political correspondent Tamara Cohen: “It doesn’t sound as nice as a hotel, does it?”

Asked about the local opposition Mr Raab said: “Planning applications are notoriously complex and they will be carried out at a local level. Of course the government work with the local authorities.”

Home Office ‘looking at’ housing migrants on barges

Mr Raab confirmed on Wednesday morning that the government is also “looking at” putting migrants and asylum seekers on barges while their claims are processed.

The justice secretary said hotels were an “incentive” for small boat crossings and ministers need to reduce the bill for keeping people in them.

He told Sky News: “Nothing’s off the table. We must end this perverse incentive through the hotels and more generally with the hospitality that in a broader sense this country gives, encouraging the wrong people, which is the criminal gangs and illegal migrants, to make these very dangerous journeys.

“Barges would be one possible option.”

Asked if such a policy would be illegal – as some suggested when Prime Minister Rishi Sunak previously floated it – Mr Raab said: “I don’t think it would be illegal, it depends on the circumstances, the conditions.”

Government sources have downplayed the likelihood of barges and ferries being used imminently, saying none had been purchased yet.

The Refugee Council said it was “deeply concerned” by the plans, calling the suggested accommodation “entirely unsuitable” to the needs of asylum seekers.

Opposition MPs were also critical, with Labour saying it does not deal with the “fundamental problem” of the length of time it takes to process claims.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting told Sky News: “I think what the government’s trying to spin is that we’ve got this problem of housing people in hotels, it can be expensive – we’ll put them on barges instead, we’ll put them in barracks instead.

“But we have the absurd spectacle of Conservative MPs campaigning against putting people in barracks in their constituencies, just as they did with hotels in their constituencies.”

He said the “fundamental problem we’ve got to deal with here is that it takes far too long to process claims”.

“We’ve got hotels that are overflowing with people, there will be barges overflowing with people.”

A government spokesman said: “We have always been upfront about the unprecedented pressure being placed on our asylum system, brought about by a significant increase in dangerous and illegal journeys into the country.

“We continue to work across government and with local authorities to identify a range of accommodation options.

“The government remains committed to engaging with local authorities and key stakeholders as part of this process.”

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