Reform Welsh Senedd member Tom Montgomery claimed as many as 52 asylum seekers could be housed at the site.
Sunset over the Welsh coast near Gronant (Image: Getty)
Families in an idyllic coastal village better known for its colony of little terns have reacted with fury to secretive Home Office plans to house asylum seekers there. Residents of Gronant in Flintshire, which has a population of around 1,600, have been told that 13 of 15 new homes at the former Gronant Institute site are due to be used by Clearsprings, a company working for the Home Office, to accommodate families awaiting decisions on their asylum claims.
Local councillor Glyn Banks is seeking a meeting involving the area’s Labour MP, police and representatives of concerned residents. He said: “The lack of any early briefing from Clearsprings or the Home Office has caused great upset in the community.”
Reform Welsh Senedd member Tom Montgomery claimed as many as 52 asylum seekers could be housed at the site.
He has written to the UK Government asking what security checks have been carried out and demanding that the proposals are stopped.
Mr Montgomery said: “With Gronant only having 697 households, limited services, and poor public transport links, it should be apparent to any reasonable person that it is the wrong place to house asylum-seekers.”
The plans have prompted concern in the village, with residents angry that they say they were not properly informed about the proposals before they emerged.
Gronant is home to an important colony of little terns and is known for its coastal setting and sandy beaches.
Flintshire County Council defended the asylum seekers who could be housed there.
A spokesman said: “They are not illegal immigrants, they are individuals exercising their legal right to claim asylum and deserve to be treated with compassion and respect.”
GB News halted for breaking migrant alert – it’s more bad news for Andy Burnham
The programme aired a breaking announcement about the ongoing migrant crisis.
GB News was interrupted for a breaking announcement, in a major blow to Andy Burnham. Mark White and Ellie Costello revealed that nearly 1000 migrants crossed the English Channel over the weekend. Speaking on Monday (August 10) morning’s programme, he said: “News for you on the small boat situation. An update in the figures coming from our producer down in Kent, which tells us now 950, around that figure is the total number of illegal immigrants who crossed the English Channel over this past weekend.
“Just shy of 1,000 crossings in a single weekend. That tells you all you need to know about the depth of this crisis. The government likes to tell us the numbers are down, which they are compared to last year, but it only takes a couple of good days and you can see the figures shooting up again.” In July, it was reported that Care4Calais, a left-wing organisation which supports migrants, was coordinating a campaign to demand “safe routes now” for those who would cross the Channel.
The announcement is a major blow to Prime Minister Andy Burnham (Image: Getty)
The charity has now reportedly handed out more than 162,000 items to migrants entering the UK, including 2,000 free SIM cards with 6 months of data preloaded.
Care4Calais’s annual report details how volunteers have hand-delivered 162,000 items in the UK and France, delivering a total of 2,221 Vodafone SIM cards, 3,765 hoodies, 3,532 pairs of joggers and 1,174 t-shirts to ensure the migrants are clothed and can call and text.
Meanwhile, when 60,000 migrants from Morocco crossed the border of the Spanish enclave Ceuta at the beginning of the month, it was reported that Spain had denied the migrants food and water in effort to get them to leave.
Comparing Spain’s handling of the crisis with that of the UK, GB News presenter Dawn Neesom said: “Can you imagine if we did that in this country rather than give them a hotel?”
Taking aim at the Labour government, Mark highlighted that the migrants were being “pushed back over the border without any regard to their claiming asylum”.
Labour’s Immigration and Asylum Bill will make it harder for foreign criminals and rejected asylum seekers to use human rights laws to block their removal.
However, union barons working with Care4Calais are attempting to force Burnham to water down the plans.
Addressing the proposal for so-called safe and legal routes and refugee sponsorship for migrants during a debate in parliament, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp warned: “The numbers that we are talking about would be in addition to the number of asylum claims that we are already processing.
“Last year saw the highest number of asylum claims in history. From memory, it was somewhere around 109,000. This year, the number will be only slightly lower.
“Adding to that, when we already have record numbers of asylum claims strikes me as irresponsible. She also asserted that the people entering through these routes would not be a burden on the general taxpayer because their sponsors would look after them.
“She neglected to mention that that support has to last only for the first year.”
He added: “Thereafter, the taxpayer would have to pick up the tab. I must say that I do not support the creation of these schemes until we have illegal immigration and asylum claims down essentially to zero.”