Cleverly blasts ex-RAF base plan (again)

THE Foreign Secretary was at odds again with the Government yesterday over plans to build a migrant accommodation centre ‘in the middle of nowhere’ in his constituency.

A former RAF base at Wethersfield in north Essex has been identified as a suitable site to house 1,500 male asylum seekers – more than double the 700 residents who live nearby. But

James Cleverly’s spokesman said yesterday that the minister, pictured, had visited the airfield and was convinced it was inappropriate due to the ‘small country roads’.

He added: ‘There are country lanes. If you’re going to improve the infrastructure you’re talking about putting in A-roads but it’s in the middle of nowhere.’

The comments doubled down on a post the Braintree MP put on Facebook earlier this month, in which he said he had told immigration minister Robert Jenrick the base ‘wasn’t appropriate’.