The site houses single male asylum seekers aged between 18 and 65 while their claims are processed, with groups transported by minibus into Braintree, as well as Chelmsford and Colchester.
Security guards deployed by Essex County Council patrol in Braintree town centre (Image: Will Colebourne/PA Wire)
A high street near a huge migrant centre has allegedly been turned into a “ghost town”, with locals claiming they are too frightened to go out. Residents in Braintree, Essex, have spoken of alleged intimidation and sexual harassment involving asylum seekers who are regularly brought into the town from the nearby Wethersfield accommodation centre.
Some women have claimed they have been approached or surrounded by groups of migrants, while one grandmother said she had given her teenage grandchildren rape alarms because she feared for their safety. Braintree is close to the former military base at Wethersfield, which is currently home to 1,245 migrants. The site houses single male asylum seekers aged between 18 and 65 while their claims are processed, with groups transported by minibus into Braintree, as well as Chelmsford and Colchester.
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Security guards deployed by Essex County Council patrol in Braintree town centre (Image: Will Colebourne/PA Wire)
Annette Lucas, 74, said she had bought rape alarms for her grandchildren, aged 16 and 13, because she considered the town centre a “scary” place.
She told The Sun: “You’re not safe here. I bought them all rape alarms because they’re really loud.”
Mrs Lucas also claimed groups of migrants had surrounded her grandchildren and said they were afraid to come into the town.
Valerie Spurgeon, 80, claimed she was once surrounded by three asylum seekers after withdrawing her pension money.
She said she crossed the road to a supermarket for safety after telling them she “wasn’t very polite”.
Ms Spurgeon claimed the youngest man then made a sexually abusive remark towards her.
Another woman, who asked not to be named, alleged an asylum seeker had told her on the high street that he would “like to f*** her”.
Local man Daniel Davies, 51, said he had heard reports of women being wolf-whistled at and described groups of young men around the bus station as intimidating.
He said: “There’s a real fear in this community at the moment. As you can see, the town’s like a ghost town, especially on a Thursday.”
But not everyone in Braintree shared those concerns.
Leslie Lewis, 72, said she regularly travelled into the town by public transport and had never experienced trouble involving asylum seekers.
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She said those waiting for their minibuses were kept apart from other people and “don’t interfere with anyone”.
Gary Waddington, 75, also said he had never personally witnessed problems involving asylum seekers and said he did not want Braintree portrayed as a frightening place.
Essex Police maintains Braintree is safe and says crime in the town is lower than it was three years ago, when the Wethersfield accommodation centre opened.
The force said 15 offences had been reported across Essex since June 2023, in which a member of the public was the victim and the suspect was identified as an asylum seeker from Wethersfield.
Police said neighbourhood teams patrol Braintree, Chelmsford and Colchester every day, including at key times, to provide reassurance and deter crime and anti-social behaviour.
The concerns have nevertheless prompted a new security operation in Braintree town centre.
Operation Vanguard, introduced by the Reform-led Essex County Council, is a three-month trial funded through up to £150,000 from a community improvement fund. It is expected to cost around £118,000 plus VAT.
The private security operatives patrol between 10am and 6pm, seven days a week, but have no enforcement powers and must refer criminal matters to police.
Essex County Council leader Peter Harris said residents had been raising concerns for months over the daily bussing of asylum seekers into local towns.
Braintree District Council leader Tom Cunningham stressed that Braintree remained “a safe place to live, work and visit” and said action affecting the town centre should be based on evidence.
The Home Office said it works closely with police to ensure the safety of communities around Wethersfield.
Labour nudges ahead of Reform for the first time in a year as new poll puts Burnham-led party on 27%.TA
More in Common have published new polling asking voters how they would vote if a general election were held tomorrow, with Andy Burnham as Labour leader instead of the outgoing Keir Starmer. The results put Labour ahead of Reform for the first time in over a year.
The numbers
With Burnham as leader, Labour rises six percentage points to 27%. Reform drops to 26%. The Conservatives sit at 23%, with the Liberal Democrats on 10% and the Greens on 8%.
It is a modest lead, and one that should be treated with caution given the volatility of the current moment – Burnham has not yet been formally confirmed as leader, and a leadership contest with other candidates could change the picture. But the direction of travel is significant. Labour has been stuck below 22% for months. A six-point uplift – enough to clear Reform – is not nothing.
The head-to-head figures are even more striking. On the question of preferred prime minister, Burnham beats Farage 62% to 38%. For comparison, Starmer beats Farage on the same question by only 53% to 47%. And when asked to choose between Burnham and Starmer directly, voters prefer Burnham by 67% to 33%.
What Luke Tryl said
Luke Tryl, director of More in Common UK – the same pollster who called Makerfield Reform’s worst night since the general election – shared the findings on social media, noting that the Burnham bounce is coming from a specific set of voters.
“Looking at voter flows, Labour under Andy Burnham particularly gain from undecided voters, Lib Dems and the Greens,” he wrote. “He also changes the outcome of the ‘preferred PM’ question, moving one point ahead of Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch. The picture is even more stark on head to heads between potential PM candidates. Burnham bests Starmer 67% to 33%. Although Starmer beats Farage 53-47, Andy Burnham beats him by a significant margin of 62-38.”
The pattern in those voter flows is worth dwelling on. Burnham is not primarily winning voters from Reform – he is winning them from the centre and left, from undecided voters and from people who were drifting to the Lib Dems and Greens. That is a different kind of coalition from the one Reform would need to beat him – and it mirrors what happened in Makerfield, where Burnham secured 54% and the Conservatives, Lib Dems and Greens collectively won just 3%. Voters who might otherwise have split their support parked it with Burnham as the candidate most capable of keeping Reform out.
What it means for Farage
For Reform, the polling adds to a deeply uncomfortable week. Tryl’s post-Makerfield analysis described it as the party’s worst byelection night since the general election, with barely any vote share increase in a seat that had been one of their best second-place finishes in 2024. Internal Reform figures are calling for Zia Yusuf’s removal and warning of “serious splits about to break out.” And Farage himself has spent the week being grilled about his £5m gift across three separate broadcasters without providing a consistent explanation.
The polling does not mean Reform are finished. They are still on 26%, they have significant local government representation, and the contest for the right of British politics is far from settled. But the Conservatives winning Aberdeen South and closing the gap in the polls suggests the squeeze on Reform from the right is real too. Restore Britain taking 7% in Makerfield added another complication. The space Reform occupies is no longer as clear as it was twelve months ago.
The leadership race
Streeting’s endorsement has all but locked down the leadership race, with nominations opening on 9 July and a new leader required by 1 September. Al Cairns, the recently resigned defence minister, is reportedly considering entering the contest, but faces the steep task of reaching 81 MP nominations while Burnham already has more than 200.
If Burnham does become leader – and the arithmetic makes it very difficult to see how he doesn’t – Tuesday’s polling suggests the general election conversation is going to look very different from what it did even two weeks ago. A Labour Party competitive with Reform, a Conservative Party showing signs of life, and a Reform party with a fragmented right flank and a leader under formal parliamentary investigation is a meaningfully different landscape from the one that existed when Starmer was clinging on.
Earlier polling from More in Common had shown Labour overtaking Reform by eight points under Burnham. Tuesday’s figures are slightly more modest – one point – but they come after a week of real political activity, not a hypothetical. Burnham won a byelection. Starmer resigned. The leadership contest is underway. And Labour, for the first time in over a year, is back in the lead.
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A week ago Andy Burnham was not an MP. Now he is the near-certain next Labour leader and prime minister, and the polling is already reflecting what his supporters have been arguing for months: that he can do something Keir Starmer has not been able to do. He can beat Nigel Farage.
More in Common have published new polling asking voters how they would vote if a general election were held tomorrow, with Andy Burnham as Labour leader instead of the outgoing Keir Starmer. The results put Labour ahead of Reform for the first time in over a year.
The numbers
With Burnham as leader, Labour rises six percentage points to 27%. Reform drops to 26%. The Conservatives sit at 23%, with the Liberal Democrats on 10% and the Greens on 8%.
It is a modest lead, and one that should be treated with caution given the volatility of the current moment – Burnham has not yet been formally confirmed as leader, and a leadership contest with other candidates could change the picture. But the direction of travel is significant. Labour has been stuck below 22% for months. A six-point uplift – enough to clear Reform – is not nothing.
The head-to-head figures are even more striking. On the question of preferred prime minister, Burnham beats Farage 62% to 38%. For comparison, Starmer beats Farage on the same question by only 53% to 47%. And when asked to choose between Burnham and Starmer directly, voters prefer Burnham by 67% to 33%.
What Luke Tryl said
Luke Tryl, director of More in Common UK – the same pollster who called Makerfield Reform’s worst night since the general election – shared the findings on social media, noting that the Burnham bounce is coming from a specific set of voters.
“Looking at voter flows, Labour under Andy Burnham particularly gain from undecided voters, Lib Dems and the Greens,” he wrote. “He also changes the outcome of the ‘preferred PM’ question, moving one point ahead of Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch. The picture is even more stark on head to heads between potential PM candidates. Burnham bests Starmer 67% to 33%. Although Starmer beats Farage 53-47, Andy Burnham beats him by a significant margin of 62-38.”
The pattern in those voter flows is worth dwelling on. Burnham is not primarily winning voters from Reform – he is winning them from the centre and left, from undecided voters and from people who were drifting to the Lib Dems and Greens. That is a different kind of coalition from the one Reform would need to beat him – and it mirrors what happened in Makerfield, where Burnham secured 54% and the Conservatives, Lib Dems and Greens collectively won just 3%. Voters who might otherwise have split their support parked it with Burnham as the candidate most capable of keeping Reform out.
What it means for Farage
For Reform, the polling adds to a deeply uncomfortable week. Tryl’s post-Makerfield analysis described it as the party’s worst byelection night since the general election, with barely any vote share increase in a seat that had been one of their best second-place finishes in 2024. Internal Reform figures are calling for Zia Yusuf’s removal and warning of “serious splits about to break out.” And Farage himself has spent the week being grilled about his £5m gift across three separate broadcasters without providing a consistent explanation.
The polling does not mean Reform are finished. They are still on 26%, they have significant local government representation, and the contest for the right of British politics is far from settled. But the Conservatives winning Aberdeen South and closing the gap in the polls suggests the squeeze on Reform from the right is real too. Restore Britain taking 7% in Makerfield added another complication. The space Reform occupies is no longer as clear as it was twelve months ago.
The leadership race
Streeting’s endorsement has all but locked down the leadership race, with nominations opening on 9 July and a new leader required by 1 September. Al Cairns, the recently resigned defence minister, is reportedly considering entering the contest, but faces the steep task of reaching 81 MP nominations while Burnham already has more than 200.
If Burnham does become leader – and the arithmetic makes it very difficult to see how he doesn’t – Tuesday’s polling suggests the general election conversation is going to look very different from what it did even two weeks ago. A Labour Party competitive with Reform, a Conservative Party showing signs of life, and a Reform party with a fragmented right flank and a leader under formal parliamentary investigation is a meaningfully different landscape from the one that existed when Starmer was clinging on.
Earlier polling from More in Common had shown Labour overtaking Reform by eight points under Burnham. Tuesday’s figures are slightly more modest – one point – but they come after a week of real political activity, not a hypothetical. Burnham won a byelection. Starmer resigned. The leadership contest is underway. And Labour, for the first time in over a year, is back in the lead.