Plans have been revealed today (Wednesday) to house asylum seekers in North Yorkshire barracks.
The proposals would see people moved out of hotels into barracks at Catterick Garrison.
It follows an outcry last year when it was proposed to turn the former air base at Linton-on-Ouse into a home for up to 1,500 male asylum seekers.
That scheme was also opposed by Hambleton Council and Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake. It was eventually dropped after Rishi Sunak said he would ask the Home Office to find an alternative solution to using the site.
By contrast the Catterick Garrison plan has the backing of the local MP – Rishi Sunak.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick told Parliament today that the Prime Minister was “bringing forward proposals” to use the Catterick Garrison barracks to house asylum seekers in his constituency to show “leadership”.
It came as Mr Jenrick faced fierce opposition to his plans to house 3,700 asylum seekers at RAF Wethersfield in Essex and RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, with an extra 1,200 going to a separate site in East Sussex.
Charities said the military accommodation is “grossly inadequate” to house people who have fled war.
The government announced the use of sites as it tries to reduce the £6.8 million a day the government says it spends on hotel accommodation.
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