RAF Scampton should be ruled out of Reform's asylum plans, leader says
The leader of Lincolnshire County Council has said that RAF Scampton shouldn’t be used for holding asylum seekers if Reform wins the next election.
The party’s leader, Nigel Farage, has proposed using disused RAF bases as processing centres, but hasn’t named which ones.
One attempt to do this was made at RAF Scampton near Lincoln, but it was abandoned when the Labour government took office.
Lincoln’s MP Hamish Falconer has accused Farage of “turning his back on Scampton.”
Coun Sean Matthews, the Reform leader of the county council, has also said he doesn’t think the site would be suitable.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting: “[Farage] has said this should happen in remote, inaccessible areas.
“That isn’t what Scampton is. RAF Scampton is not isolated at all.
“I would much rather see us carry on with the investment that RAF Scampton’s going to get.”
Mr Falconer said: “I don’t agree with Nigel Farage on practically anything, but in opposition, he signed my petition opposing Tory plans to turn RAF Scampton into a migrant processing centre.
“Now, Reform and Farage are doing press conferences about using disused RAF bases, and they’re refusing to rule out RAF Scampton, the historic home of the Dambusters.
“He literally went to the Dambusters pub and said how much he opposed what the Tories were doing, but now he’s doing it himself.”
The site is currently being sold by the Home Office, with West Lindsey District Council hoping to launch a £300m regeneration plan for the historic site.
Mr Farage has said migrants would be detained on RAF bases under Reform’s deportation plans.
During a recent press conference, he said: “So I would suggest to you that whichever geographical locations are chosen, local residents will be far less concerned by this plan than they would young men being free 24 hours a day to walk through their village or walk through their town.”