Burnham Under Fire Over Plan to Spread Asylum Sites to Affluent Areas
Prime Minister Andy Burnham is facing a backlash over plans to open asylum accommodation in more affluent parts of the country, with reports that the government would pay higher rents to disperse arrivals more widely. Critics accuse ministers of bypassing local opposition, and legal challenges are anticipated. It reopens a fraught argument over where asylum seekers are housed.
Asylum accommodation has become one of the most combustible issues in British politics, with hotels and large sites concentrated in poorer areas that ministers say have shouldered an unfair share, fuelling local anger and protests. Mr Burnham’s push to spread placements into wealthier districts is an attempt to share that burden more evenly, but it risks provoking resistance in the shires and a wave of legal challenges from councils and residents. Paying higher rents to secure properties invites the charge of throwing money at a problem the government has struggled to control. With Reform pressing hard on immigration after its by-election win, the politics are treacherous. Watch how councils in affluent areas respond and whether the plan survives the courts.