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PM does not give date for closure of asylum centre

Simon Dedman
BBC Political Reporter, Essex
PA Media Sir Keir Starmer looks animated as he is speaking. He is wearing a suit, dark glasses and has a microphone attached to his left lapel. There are a number of police officers behind him, dressed in uniforms. PA Media
The PM told the BBC the best way to close Wethersfield was to increase the number of asylum cases being processed

The Prime Minister has refused to put a date on when an asylum centre at a former RAF station in Essex will close.

During the general election campaign Sir Keir Starmer said MDP Wethersfield, which has been used to house single male migrants since 2023, needed to close.

"The way to close down and also to ensure that we don't have taxpayer paying for hotel bills across the country for asylum seekers is to process the [asylum] claims and get control of our borders," he said, speaking on Thursday.

Conservative MP James Cleverly, whose constituency includes Wethersfield, said "Labour misled" voters about immigration during the campaign.

On a visit to Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, the BBC asked the prime minister three times when MDP Wethersfield would close, but he did not give a date.

"We are processing the claims, as a result of that we have now returned 24,000 people who shouldn't be in the country back to the country they have came from - that is the highest rate of return for the decade," said Sir Keir.

PA Media Aerial shot of the housing blocks on RAF Wethersfield. Four rectangular accommodation blocks can be seen, surrounding by grass, trees and some road and cars. There are fields in the background.PA Media
The former Wethersfield air base has housed asylum seekers since July 2023

Residents have criticised the use of the base and Cleverly has described it as an "isolated site" where there is "not much for these young men to do".

The Braintree MP added: "Labour misled voters ahead of the general election with promises about immigration and specifically about Wethersfield."

The Helen Bamber Foundation, a human rights charity whose officers have clinically assessed some of the male asylum seekers on the base, said: "We continue to witness a significant deterioration in their mental and physical health as a result of living there.

"They face extreme isolation, are forced to share rooms, and struggle to access essential services, leaving many feeling trapped in what they describe as an 'open prison'."

In February, the Home Office increased the cap on the number of asylum seekers who can live at the former RAF station from 580 to 800.

A Home Office Spokesperson has said: "This government inherited an asylum system under unprecedented strain.

"That has inevitably meant difficult choices elsewhere in the short term, including increasing capacity at Wethersfield."

In September, the Home Office announced that RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire would not be used for asylum seekers and the site would be closed.

In November, the government ended the use of the Bibby Stockholm barge moored off Dorset to house migrants.

The special development order that allows the government to use MDP Wethersfield to house asylum seekers expires in April 2027, but the government could extend its use beyond this date.

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