Reform UK has called on Andy Burnham to give local councils the power to block Home Office plans to house asylum seekers in their communities.
Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s Shadow Home Secretary, has written to the new Prime Minister demanding that he honour his promise to devolve decision-making and listen to local people.
The letter is co-signed by the leaders of 24 Reform-controlled councils, representing more than 8.5 million people across England, from Durham in the North East to Kent on the South Coast.
“Andy Burnham says he wants to devolve power and actually listen to local people”, Yusuf said. “I have written to him demanding he makes good on that promise.”
He added: “They do not want unvetted illegal migrants dumped in their areas.”
“Burnham must fully devolve the power to stop the housing of illegal migrants in local communities by the Home Office.”
The intervention comes as the government moves asylum seekers out of hotels and into private accommodation, often sourced through private contractors. The policy has provoked anger in communities where residents and councils have been given little say over where immigrants are housed. These are not secure facilities and undocumented immigrants are free to come and go - leaving communities with little idea who has been placed in their areas.
Particular concern has been raised about the use of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), where several asylum seekers can be placed together in ordinary residential streets. These placements are made without proper consultation, increasing the pressure on local services and potentially putting locals at risk without those who live there being given any say.
In his letter, Yusuf warned that communities were being expected to accommodate “unvetted, unidentified, fighting-age men from countries riven by violence, with attitudes towards women and girls verging on the medieval”.
Yusuf said the issue had repeatedly been raised with him during May’s local election campaign.
“I heard from thousands of voters, who spoke with one voice of their frustration at their powerlessness to make the single most important decision about their own communities - the decision about who gets to be part of them”, he wrote in his letter.
“If you really believe in giving power back to the people, you must grant local authorities the power to end this insanity.”
Reform UK is now challenging Burnham to prove his apparent commitment to local decision-making. More devolution has been central to Burnham’s political pitch. But if he really believes that decisions should be taken closer to the communities they affect, he should have no objection to giving councils the power to reject plans to house asylum seekers. He likely already knows what local people would decide if given a voice.
Yusuf concluded: “Time to find out if Burnham means what he says, or is just Starmer in jeans.”
Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s Shadow Home Secretary, has written to the new Prime Minister demanding that he honour his promise to devolve decision-making and listen to local people.
The letter is co-signed by the leaders of 24 Reform-controlled councils, representing more than 8.5 million people across England, from Durham in the North East to Kent on the South Coast.
“Andy Burnham says he wants to devolve power and actually listen to local people”, Yusuf said. “I have written to him demanding he makes good on that promise.”
He added: “They do not want unvetted illegal migrants dumped in their areas.”
“Burnham must fully devolve the power to stop the housing of illegal migrants in local communities by the Home Office.”
The intervention comes as the government moves asylum seekers out of hotels and into private accommodation, often sourced through private contractors. The policy has provoked anger in communities where residents and councils have been given little say over where immigrants are housed. These are not secure facilities and undocumented immigrants are free to come and go - leaving communities with little idea who has been placed in their areas.
Particular concern has been raised about the use of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), where several asylum seekers can be placed together in ordinary residential streets. These placements are made without proper consultation, increasing the pressure on local services and potentially putting locals at risk without those who live there being given any say.
In his letter, Yusuf warned that communities were being expected to accommodate “unvetted, unidentified, fighting-age men from countries riven by violence, with attitudes towards women and girls verging on the medieval”.
Yusuf said the issue had repeatedly been raised with him during May’s local election campaign.
“I heard from thousands of voters, who spoke with one voice of their frustration at their powerlessness to make the single most important decision about their own communities - the decision about who gets to be part of them”, he wrote in his letter.
“If you really believe in giving power back to the people, you must grant local authorities the power to end this insanity.”
Reform UK is now challenging Burnham to prove his apparent commitment to local decision-making. More devolution has been central to Burnham’s political pitch. But if he really believes that decisions should be taken closer to the communities they affect, he should have no objection to giving councils the power to reject plans to house asylum seekers. He likely already knows what local people would decide if given a voice.
Yusuf concluded: “Time to find out if Burnham means what he says, or is just Starmer in jeans.”
