Keir Starmer promises Scampton will never be used for asylum seeker housing

The government is under pressure to find new ways of housing people claiming asylum in the UK, including on military bases.

Sir Keir Starmer ruled out any backtracking on RAF Scampton, but didn’t rule out other RAF bases in Lincolnshire.

“I made a commitment to Scampton before the election that it wouldn’t be used. I intend to honour that,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

“More broadly, I want to bring down the cost of accommodation for asylum seekers, and close the hotels [which are currently being used].

“We need to stop people wanting to come to the UK, process claims quicker and reduce accommodation needs.”

When asked whether other RAF bases in the area were under consideration, he said the government was working to reduce the demand from asylum seekers.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced hew rules to make it tougher for people to settle in the UK permanently and easier to deport them, as their refugee status would only be temporary, until their home country is deemed safe to return to.

Plans to use RAF Scampton for housing hundreds of asylum seekers were scrapped by the Labour government last year.

However, it announced recently that it would be considering military sites, with mixed messages coming out on whether the former home of the Dambusters would be included in this.

Inaccurate national media reports fuelled uncertainty about its future.

Preparations are now being made to put the site on the open market, after being left in limbo for more than a year.

West Lindsey District Council is keen to buy the property, saying its regeneration plans would boost the local economy by £2billion over the next 15 years.

The scrapped asylum seeker housing project – initiated by the previous Conservative government – lost the Home Office £48million, according to their official figures.

Not a single person was ever housed there, with the temporary accommodation removed without ever being used.