Lincoln‘s newly-elected MP says he is ‘absolutely committed’ to reversing the RAF Scampton asylum centre plans but warns it may take some time. Labour’s Hamish Falconer ousted former Conservative MP Karl McCartney at the general election in July, receiving almost double the votes of his predecessor.
Mr Falconer has publicly voiced his opposition to the former Conservative government’s asylum centre plans at RAF Scampton since they were first put forward in March 2023. The plans would see 800 single men be housed at the former military base from countries including: Iraq, Iran, Albania, Eritrea, Pakistan, Nigeria, China, Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan, El Salvador, and Ethiopia.
A £300 million investment project to redevelop RAF Scampton, led by Scampton Holdings, was put on hold due to the asylum centre plans. Prime Minister Keir Starmer previously said he would scrap the asylum centre plans at RAF Scampton if Labour were in power, and Mr Falconer says the process will be “complicated”.
He said: “I know it’s frustrating for people but I do have to let the new Prime Minister and Home Secretary get their feet under the table and there’s obviously a huge list of things stored up for them both. I fully intend to discharge my commitment to the people which was to get that mad scheme scrapped.
“It’s complicated because there are three elements to it. The first is, what is the Home Office doing on the site? As there are clearly portacabins on there and things physically that have been happening on the site which need to be reversed.
(Image: Dean Foreman)
“Another complicated thing is the investment itself. The plans were always for private investors to put a very significant investment in. I’ve been talking to those investors who say they’re still good for the money and we’re going to have to hold them to that.
“The third element is that West Lindsey District Council did a deal with the Home Office just before the general election. A deal I haven’t seen which I assume is now going to need to be unravelled and undone. That contractual stuff will take a bit of time I think.”
Campaigners have lined the gates at RAF Scampton for over a year in protest of the plans. Mr Falconer added: “I know people are incredibly impatient and I don’t want to give anyone the impression that I’m doing anything other than focusing very much on this. It’s one of my top things since I got down to parliament for the first time.
“I’m still absolutely committed to doing what I said. If I can find a switch in the next week I will definitely flip it but I suspect it will be a bit more complicated than that.”
LincolnshireLive has attempted to contact the Home Office for comment.
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