The ongoing saga of the Home Office trying to pass the asylum “buck” to the military is becoming a bitter squabble.
The Armed Forces always stand ready to help other government departments when they are unexpectedly caught in an emergencies. Flooding and the pandemic are recent examples where soldiers, sailors and air personnel have stopped their work to valiantly help the civilian authorities across the regions.
The issue of housing illegal migrants and asylum seekers is not the same thing. We have known about this problem for over a decade, so there has been plenty of time to design and deliver appropriate accommodation according to the Government’s stated requirement. It is ridiculous that the Home Office has not used the time given to them by the use of expensive hotels to produce a workable plan and this week, tried to blame the MoD for their failings.
MoD sites such as Catterick Garrison are isolated, spartan and inhospitable. When I completed my Basic Military Training there, any free time was spent getting as far away from the base as possible. My regiment is based there now and I know that the facilities are totally inadequate for asylum seekers, who should be housed in urban environments, not rural isolation. My message to the Home Office is to please wake up and smell the coffee!
Early Morning at Catterick Barracks September 1978