The Tory leader accused the Prime Minister of copying Nigel Farage by targeting areas run by political opponents for asylum accommodation and detention centres.
Andy Burnham is under pressure over the migrant crisis (Image: Getty)
Andy Burnham’s plan to move migrants into leafy villages and towns is about “punishing” people for not voting Labour, Kemi Badenoch has declared. The Tory leader accused the Prime Minister of copying Nigel Farage and Reform UK by targeting areas led by political opponents for asylum accommodation and detention centres.
And she warned the scandal surrounding Piddington – an Oxfordshire with a population of just 400 people – is “only the start” Some 1,250 asylum seekers will be moved to a former military base near the tiny village, sparking outrage.
And Mr Burnham has warned other towns and villages they will see an increase in asylum seekers.
Mrs Badenoch said: “He won’t like me pointing this out, but Burnham is essentially copying a Reform UK policy, his only difference being the target.
“In May, Nigel Farage proposed putting migrant-detention centres in Green- voting areas while sparing places that elected Reform MPs.
“Burnham has chosen to put illegal migrants in quiet middle-class villages that don’t vote Labour. Same rotten principle.
“But then again, we shouldn’t be surprised. Burnham has arrived in Westminster with a more upbeat and chummy demeanour but he’s still leading the same old Labour Party.
“The message from Burnham’s Labour is clear: the people of Piddington, or Linton-on-Ouse in Yorkshire, or various other quaint villages near RAF bases, aren’t Labour people, so they are just going to have to lump it.
“While Andy Burnham wants to punish the towns and villages that didn’t vote Labour and Farage wants to punish those who won’t vote Reform, I want to unite the country – and offer everyone a brighter future under the Conservatives.”
The former military site sits close to a recreation area, sports pitches and homes, with some residents saying gardens back directly onto the site.
Kemi Badenoch has attacked Andy Burnham’s plans (Image: Getty)
Furious residents have protested against the plans and, on July 4, agreed to hold an independence ballot to leave the UK, with 96% backing the move.
The date was deliberately chosen to coincide with American Independence Day in a symbolic attempt to send a message to the Government.
Critics have warned Labour is planning to “spread the misery” into more affluent areas, the suburbs and shires “so everybody suffers” when they claimed the “solution is to deport illegal immigrants”.
The Daily Express has previously disclosed how the Home Office plans to eventually house 40,000 asylum seekers in the South of England, the South-East, the East, the South West and London.
Home Office minister Anna Turley said communities where “housing is perhaps cheaper and more plentiful have had to take more than their fair share of asylum seekers”.
She added: “That’s put a huge burden on local communities and created real civil unrest, so we want to make sure that we’re managing the system much better in a more sustained way that’s reducing the impact on local communities.”
And it comes after Mr Burnham told GB News: “I do have to say we cannot have a situation where it’s only the poorest communities in the country that receive all of the dispersal of refugees and asylum seekers. I do believe all parts of the country need to work, to play their part. It’s a challenging issue.”
But Mrs Badenoch, writing in the Daily Mail, warned of disaster.
She said: “If the idea of a leafy English village with a population of 400 becoming an independent country sounds absurd, it’s only slightly less absurd than the Labour Government seeking to force that same village to accept four times its population in illegal immigrants without any say in the matter.
“But Piddington is only the start.
“I know what it’s like for an unsuspecting community to suddenly have hundreds of illegal immigrants arrive unannounced. As an Essex MP, I was particularly annoyed by Labour reopening the Bell Hotel as an asylum hotel in Epping, which the Conservatives had closed. That annoyance turned to fury after one of the migrants sexually assaulted a local girl.
“I spoke to people in Epping. I met some of the parents terrified for their children’s safety. No one should be forced to see their local area become a no-go zone overnight, where it’s not safe for young women and children. Yet this is what Burnham is telling large parts of the country they now have to stomach.”
Almost 70,000 asylum seekers are living in dispersal accommodation – houses, flats and bedsits.