A Reform UK council leader says asylum seekers are offered free healthcare, indoor sports and a prayer room.
Essex council leader Peter Harris dubs Wethersfield as ‘Holiday Camp UK’ (Image: PA Images)
A Reform UK council leader has said asylum seekers are benefiting from “luxury” sports facilities, three meals a day and a snack bar at a former RAF camp in Essex. County Council leader Peter Harris described Wethersfield Airfield Asylum Centre as “Holiday Camp UK” where 800 “guests” enjoy a fully equipped gym, football pitch, indoor sports hall and NHS medical facility.
Mr Harris, writing for the Daily Mail, said mobile phones with “generous” allowances for free calls are provided and there is a “wide” choice of meals, including veggie options. A “squadron” of minibuses are also laid on to take residents on visits to local town, including Braintree, Chelmsford and Colchester.
Peter Harris says ‘guests’ enjoy ‘luxury’ sports facilities (Image: PA Images)
The local politician, who was granted permission to visit the site, said everything laid on is free for the migrants. This includes £9.95 each for “incidental costs”. And despite the apparent choice of facilities, Mr Harris said the most frequent request posted in a suggestions box is for a pool.
He wrote that arguably the most astonishing revelation of his visit was a two-day induction course offered to arrivals.
Essex County Council’s leader said this includes migrants being instructed to “respect women, not to stare at them in the street, and not to sexually assault them”.
In his Daily Mail op-ed, Mr Harris added: “Incredibly, it is considered necessary to explain to thousands of men on arrival in Britain that rape is unacceptable.”
The Home Office has been approached for comment.
Peter Harris says about 800 asylum seekers are being housed at the former RAF site (Image: PA Images)
Earlier this month it emerged that the Government is seeking to extend the use of existing military sites to house asylum seekers. This includes extending Wethersfield beyond 2027 and a site in Crowborough, Sussex, until 2030.
Ministers have said that there has been an almost £1billion reduction in asylum accommodation costs since the 2024 general election as asylum hotels close and migrants are housed at sites such as Wethersfield.
The Home Office is assessing whether Barnham Camp in Suffolk could be used to accommodate men aged between 18 and 65.
Home Office minister Anna Turley has defended proposals to house asylum seekers in former military bases.
Ms Turley has said the sites would be “self-contained”, more manageable and affordable than housing those who have arrived in the UK illegally in hotels.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has vowed to listen to local people’s “legitimate” concerns and that all parts of the UK need to play their part.
His comments came after unrest broke out in Thetford, Norfolk, where people were thought to have tried to storm homes linked to asylum seekers