MP says 121 asylum seekers will be going into ‘small rural Shropshire settlement’

An MP has raised concerns after revealing that 121 asylum seekers are to be housed in a “small rural settlement” in Shropshire.

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Mark Pritchard, MP for The Wrekin, told the House of Commons during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday (June 17) that he had just been told of the move.

Raising a question to Deputy PM David Lammy, who was sitting in for Sir Keir Starmer who is at the G7 summit, Mr Pritchard said: “Stoke Heath is a small rural settlement in The Wrekin constituency in Shropshire.

“Over the last few hours I’ve been informed that 121 asylum seekers will be going into that settlement - that is a 35 per cent increase in a matter of weeks and equivalent to 44,000 asylum seekers going into the Deputy Prime Minister’s constituency.

“Does the Deputy Prime Minister agree with me that that level of dispersal in a rural community just isn’t fair?”

David Lammy said he was “proud” there had been a net migration reduction of 82 per cent over the last 23 months since Labour had been in power.

But he added they could “not get to grip” with the problem by simply “saying not in my patch”.

After PMQs, Mr Pritchard said that starting from this week, Serco, on behalf of the Government, plans to move asylum seekers into the properties in phases until all 21 properties are occupied, with a mixture of asylum-seeking families and single occupiers.

Mark Pritchard MP said: “Stoke Heath is completely the wrong place to house large numbers of asylum seekers, whether that be families or single men.

“It is a rural village with limited access to services like shops and public transport. The nearest bus stop is a 30-minute walk away.

“For these individuals from other countries, Stoke Heath will be an unfamiliar environment where they will have nothing to do. It is neither safe nor fair on the local community to see so many asylum seekers in local housing. Such a large number of people, many of whom the Government knows little about, will be very unsettling for very many local people.

“It is unacceptable that Labour Home Office ministers have not consulted with Stoke Heath residents or the local parish council about these ill-conceived plans. As the local Member of Parliament, I was only given a few hours’ notice of there arrival.

“It is as if the Government have parachuted them in with scant regard to the views of the local community or elected representatives.

“I am calling on Shropshire Council to apply for a judicial review of the Home Office’s decision to place in this entirely unsuitable location and to fight Keir Starmer in the courts. I will fight it all the way.

“Surely there are better locations to provide such accommodation rather than isolated and small rural village with very few if any tangible public services?”