Archive · 12 Aug 2026
Andy Burnham Calls for Fairer UK Asylum Seeker Distribution
The United Kingdom needs places for people who come to live there safely.
Some of these people are called asylum seekers.
They have often been kept in big buildings called hotels.
The government is closing those hotels and using old military bases instead.
People who live near one of these bases, in the village of Piddington, were not happy and held a protest.
The Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, said it is only fair that richer towns and cities also help look after asylum seekers.
At the moment, poorer communities take in most of them.
Another politician, Chris Philp, disagreed and said asylum seekers should not be housed anywhere and should be sent away.
The government says the number of hotels used has gone down from 400 to 160 and hopes to stop using them by 2029.
Like sharing toys fairly, Burnham thinks different parts of the country should share this job too.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said wealthier parts of the UK should take a greater share of housing for asylum seekers.
The comments followed protests in Piddington, Oxfordshire, over government plans to house asylum seekers at a former military base.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp rejected the call, saying illegal immigrants should not be housed "anywhere" and should be deported within a week.
Immigration minister Anna Turley said asylum hotel numbers fell from a peak of 400 under the Conservatives to 160 under Labour, with closure planned by 2029.
Home Office figures showed 97,519 people receiving asylum support at the end of March, including 20,885 in hotels.
- Who
- Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister, made the call; shadow home secretary Chris Philp opposed it, and immigration minister Anna Turley defended Labour's plans. Residents of Piddington, Oxfordshire, protested the military-base housing plan.
- What
- A call for wealthier parts of the UK to take a greater share of asylum seeker housing, after poorer communities absorbed most dispersal placements and protests broke out over a military-base plan.
- When
- On Wednesday 12, when Anna Turley spoke on BBC Breakfast; three new military sites, including Bicester, were announced in June.
- Where
- The United Kingdom, including Piddington and Bicester in Oxfordshire; Blackpool, Glasgow, Birmingham and Liverpool host many supported asylum seekers.
- Why
- Because poorer communities are absorbing the bulk of asylum dispersal placements, and the government is replacing asylum hotels, which drew repeated protests, with military sites.
Fairer dispersal across the UK
No housing and fast deportation
Where should asylum seekers live?
Fairer dispersal across the UK
Wealthier parts of the UK should take a greater share of asylum seeker housing; poorer communities cannot keep absorbing most dispersal placements.
No housing and fast deportation
Illegal immigrants should not be housed anywhere – wealthy or not – and should be deported within a week to their home country or a safe third country.
Replacing asylum hotels with military sites
Fairer dispersal across the UK
Labour is phasing out asylum hotels – numbers fell from 400 to 160 – and using military sites instead, a shift that has saved £1 billion.
No housing and fast deportation
The shadow home secretary dismisses the dispersal approach entirely, rejecting housing migrants in military bases or anywhere else in the UK.
The Piddington military base plan
Fairer dispersal across the UK
The government says military sites are needed to replace asylum hotels, which had drawn repeated protests.
No housing and fast deportation
Residents of Piddington, Oxfordshire, protested the plan and voted to hold a symbolic referendum on leaving the UK.
- Prime Minister
- Andy Burnham
- Shadow Home Secretary
- Chris Philp
- Immigration Minister
- Anna Turley
- Asylum hotel numbers
- Fell from a peak of 400 (Conservatives) to 160 (Labour)
- Hotel phase-out target
- Full closure planned by 2029
- Reported savings
- £1 billion from the shift away from hotels
- Asylum support recipients
- 97,519 at end of March; 20,885 in hotels
- New military sites
- Three announced in June, including Bicester in Oxfordshire