'Hand control back' - South Tyneside Council leader backs Reform UK demands on asylum seeker housing
South Tyneside Council’s leader has signed a letter sent to the new Prime Minister calling for local control on asylum seeker housing.
The leader of South Tyneside Council is one of 24 local authority chiefs sign a letter from Reform UK to Prime Minister Andy Burnham calling for local control on settling of asylum seekers.
Councillor Paul Mackings co-signed the open letter from Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf which calls on the PM to give local decision makers the power to reject the settling of asylum seekers in their communities.
In his letter, Yusuf calls on the Prime Minister to “make good” on his promise to devolve decision-making to communities.
He argues that the Home Office “has kept local people out of decision-making whilst outsourcing those choices to private companies like Serco, which reap rich rewards from their destruction of our homes.”
Burnham vowed to “take power out of the centre” of the UK as part of his bid to become Prime Minister.
Within the letter, Yusuf tells Burnham the Reform members “are calling on you to make good on your promise to hand control back to local people, and to fully devolve the power to stop the housing of illegal migrants in local communities by the Home Office and its contractors.”
Burnham was appointed into his new role on Monday, July 20.
Cllr Mackings, who represents the Whiteleas ward, was appointed to the role of council leader in May. His team has been contacted for comment.
The letter was also signed by the leaders of Sunderland City Council, Gateshead Council and Durham County Council.