Andy Burnham has said wealthy areas should house more migrants after a leafy village staged a revolt against plans to house 1,250 asylum seekers at an MoD site.
Mr Burnham, who today spoke to GB News for the first time since becoming Prime Minister, responded directly to concerns expressed by residents in the Oxfordshire village of Piddington.
He told GB News: “I have begun to become aware of the campaign from Piddington, and I will listen to what people are saying and respond to the concerns that they are putting forward.
“I don’t know the issue yet in detail, but in some ways, as I understand it, it is about creating secure space and not have the HMO issues that you were talking about earlier.
“It’s obviously going to be challenging, but I am prepared always to listen to people, to work with people and to pick up legitimate concerns, and I will address those concerns.
“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.
Andy Burnham discusses the migrant crisis with GB News
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GB NEWS
“I do believe all parts of the country need to work, to play their part. It’s a challenging issue.
“We’re working at it, we understand people’s concerns, and I will look into the issues raised by the good people of Piddington.”
Average house prices in Piddington stood at £583,750 last year, significantly higher than the UK-wide average of £271,000.
Residents in Piddington, which has a population of around 400 people, voted 96 per cent in favour of a symbolic “independence” referendum held on July 4, with parish council chairman Tim McNally saying residents felt they were “taking a hit on behalf of the United Kingdom”.
Piddington voted to hold an independence referendum after a meeting in the village hall
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GOOGLE MAPSLocal children have since written letters directly to Prime Minister Andy Burnham, with seven-year-old Rex Perkin explaining he worries he will no longer be able to visit his sister’s grave in the village.
Speaking to GB News, parent Gina Phillips said she hoped the children’s letters would “resonate” with the Prime Minister “as a father”.
Other parents have echoed that plea, with one mother fearing the scale of the plan would leave the village “so outnumbered that it would change our lives completely”.
Plans to accommodate almost 5,000 asylum seekers at military barracks have also sparked concern among residents in Barnham, Crowborough, Linton-on-Ouse and Wethersfield.
However, the Home Office insists using military barracks will save taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds after £2.1billion was spent on housing asylum seekers in hotels last year.
Mr Burnham also announced his push for a redistribution of asylum accommodation after the Home Office revealed earlier this year that the North East and North West housed a disproportionate number of asylum seekers per capita.
The East of England, South East of England and South West of England all sat below the national average, along with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile, London’s figure was still below the East Midlands, Yorkshire & Humber and the West Midlands.
The Piddington MoD base in Bicester will house up to 1,250 asylum seekers | GB NEWS
An investigation carried out by GB News earlier this year also revealed the local authorities which had expressed an interest in housing migrants as part of the Home Office’s asylum fund.
Brighton & Hove, Hackney, Peterborough, Thanet and Powys all expressed an interest at the end of last year.
The People’s Channel uncovered that Barnet, Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole, Cheltenham, East Riding of Yorkshire, East Suffolk, Folkestone & Hythe, Medway, Moray, North Devon, Oxford, the Highlands, and West Oxfordshire had also explored participation.
However, the Home Office did not shortlist Barnet, East Riding of Yorkshire, Folkestone & Hythe, Medway, or Moray for its pilot scheme.