Burnham suggests wealthier areas in the UK should do more to house migrants
During a GB News interview, Andy Burnham was asked about opposition to Home Office plans to accommodate up to 1,250 asylum seekers at a nearby former military site in Piddington, Oxfordshire.
Burnham said he would listen to local concerns, adding: “We understand people’s concerns and I will look into the issues raised by the good people of Piddington.”
He also said: “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. I do believe all parts of the country need to work, to play their part.”
The comments come amidst a wider argument over asylum dispersal.
Government figures show over 97,500 people were receiving asylum support at the end of March, including 20,885 in hotels and 72,768 in other accommodation.
The north-east and north-west had the highest supported-asylum-seeker rates per head of population, while the local authorities with the largest numbers included Glasgow, Birmingham, Liverpool, Coventry and Belfast.
Burnham’s comments sparked headlines – and bias. The BBC frames Burnham’s point through pressure on poorer areas, making the story about fairness in asylum dispersal; The Times uses the more neutral but still pointed “affluent areas”, while The Guardian’s coverage softens the claim with “suggested” in keeping with a centre-left, broader political update. By contrast, the Daily Mail and GB News headlines foreground the “middle class” and “wealthy”, alongside the figure of 1,250 people, shifting emphasis from Burnham’s burden-sharing argument to the perceived impact on better-off communities and local resistance.
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Andy Burnham says wealthy areas must house more migrants after leafy village revolts over 1,250 asylum seekers
