Scampton: Labour would 'quickly' close asylum camp - Starmer

Sir Keir Starmer has echoed comments made by shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper about the Scampton site

A planned asylum seeker camp at the ex-RAF Scampton site would be shut "as quickly as possible" by a new Labour government, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

Labour would act "straight away" to begin its closure if it won the next general election, the party's leader told BBC Radio Lincolnshire.

The government intends to house up to 2,000 people at the site near Lincoln.

The Home Office has previously said using such surplus military sites was "more affordable for taxpayers".

The plan to convert the former home of the Red Arrows and wartime Dambusters squadron into an asylum camp has met with strong opposition from local residents, as well as West Lindsey District Council.

A £300m deal had been struck earlier this year to regenerate the site, with the aim of transforming it into a business, aerospace and heritage centre.

A judicial review into the Home Office's plans for the former RAF station is due to take place at the end of this month.

Sir Keir told the BBC: "For the government to impose this on Lincolnshire against the wishes of local people, but also to do it on a site that actually could and should be used as a business development, is fundamentally the wrong thing."

While there were "practicalities of closing a place down and moving people somewhere else", Sir Keir said that if Labour won the next election "we'd want to do that straight away".

The Labour leader continued: "I'd urge the government again, on behalf of everyone in Lincolnshire, don't do this because it's the wrong move."

On Tuesday, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper called the plans for Scampton "disrespectful", given the history of the site.