Burnham suggests wealthy areas must play their part in housing asylum seekers

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has suggested that wealthy areas of the UK should house more asylum seekers.

"We cannot have a situation where it's only the poorest communities in the country that receive all of the dispersal of refugees and asylum seekers," he told GB News , externalon Tuesday.

His comments came in response to a question about protests which have taken place in the village of Piddington, Oxfordshire over plans to provide accommodation for asylum seekers on a nearby former military base.

But shadow home secretary Chris Philp, responding to Burnham's comments, said: "We shouldn't be housing illegal immigrants anywhere – wealthy or not."

Labour has pledged to stop using asylum hotels, a costly form of accommodation that has become a focal point for anti-migrant protests.

The government has sought to house migrants at military sites across the country instead, announcing in June that it planned to open three more including the site in Bicester, Oxfordshire.

The plans have prompted protests there, with residents of nearby Piddington voting to stage a symbolic referendum on leaving the UK.

Burnham said on Tuesday that he would listen to and address the concerns being raised.

"I don't know the issue yet in detail, but in some ways, as I understand it, it is about creating secure space," he said.

"We understand people's concerns and I will look into the issues raised by the good people of Piddington."

But he added: "I do believe all parts of the country need to work, to play their part."

After winning the Makerfield by-election in June, Burnham promised to end "HMO Britain" and said he would change Britain's asylum accommodation system.

HMOs, or houses in multiple occupation, have been widely used by government contractors to house asylum seekers, often in lower income, urban areas.

Last week, there were anti-immigration demonstrations in the town of Thetford, Norfolk, with protesters attempting to enter homes where they believed asylum seekers were living.

In response to Burnham's interview, Philp reiterated the Conservatives' policy of leaving the European Convention on Human Rights in order to deport migrants to their country of origin or a safe third country.

"Andy Burnham just doesn't get it," he wrote on X.

"Illegal immigrants should all be deported within a week of arrival - to their country of origin or a safe third country like Rwanda."

Government statistics, external showed there were 97,519 people in receipt of asylum support at the end of March, with 20,885 in hotel accommodation.

The figures added that 72,768 people were in other accommodation, including "dispersal accommodation" - which normally means houses in the community.

The remaining 3,866 people were in receipt of subsistence support only, according to the government.

The regions and nations with the highest number of asylum seekers in receipt of Home Office support included 19,578 in the north-west of England, 13,687 in London, 11,969 in the West Midlands and 8,635 in Yorkshire and the Humber.

The Home Office said the regions with the most supported asylum seekers as a proportion of their overall population were the north-east and north-west of England, with 26 and 25 supported people per 10,000 residents respectively.

It added the local authorities with the highest numbers of supported asylum seekers within them were Glasgow city (3,870), Birmingham (2,142), Liverpool (2,053), Coventry (1,712) and Belfast (1,607).

Burnham, during his time serving as the mayor of Greater Manchester, threatened to block the region from housing any more asylum seekers in 2018.

He complained about the government's dispersal system and said Greater Manchester's public services could not continue to support "disproportionate" numbers of people compared with elsewhere in the country.

Burnham at the time said the north-west of England was hosting 25% of the national population of asylum applicants who require housing and support - with Greater Manchester housing 70% of the region's numbers.

The then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid replied by promising to work towards a fairer distribution.