Threat To Turn Dambusters HQ RAF Scampton Into Migrant Detention Centre

Families living in a historical village have been left furious amid new plans to house migrants at the former Dambusters base.

The iconic World War II mission to destroy German dams with ‘bouncing bombs’ was launched at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire in 1943 and altered the course of the war.

However, after widespread criticism nationwide, the crucial base has now been promoted once more as a detention facility for asylum seekers as the Labour administration seeks to cease housing newcomers in hotels.

It was formerly part of a £50 million Conservative plan to house 2,000 migrants at the site, which was subsequently lowered to 800 and ultimately scrapped by Labour in 2024, as it did not provide ‘value for money’.

Additionally, Defence Minister Luke Pollard stated this week that housing camps might be established on Ministry of Defence territory, perhaps including Scampton, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer tries to control the immigration problem.

Locals have, in turn, pledged to overthrow the plans once and for all, fearing the scenic village will become overwhelmed by asylum seekers.

Steve Plews, landlord of Scampton’s only pub, The Dambuster’s Arms, said: ‘They spent £62 million up there last year. They said it had to be “liveable” for the asylum seekers.

‘But it was alright for our lads to live there when it was an RAF base.’

He added that it was just as well the village had kept its Save Our Scampton flags up from the previous battle over the base’s future.

It was hoped that the Conservatives’ aborted plans would pave the way for the site to become a hub for aviation history, complete with a hotel and world-class attractions like the Red Arrows, but these ambitions are now in jeopardy.

‘I cannot say we are surprised, though,’ Mr Plews said. ‘It is a typical Labour U-turn. They could not lie straight in bed.

‘The fight starts again – even though we thought we had won it.’

Nodding in agreement, ex-RAF man Andy Pickett, 63, was nursing a pint of Dambuster Pilsner while admiring the pub’s display of memorabilia to the raid.

The local, who spent 37 years in the air force and seven more as a consultant engineer to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, said: ‘I don’t think it is financially viable. 

‘The politicians are being poorly advised by the civil servants who wrongly assumed, because it was an operational RAF base until two years ago, that the buildings are still structurally sound, and they are not.

‘Only 10 per cent of the estate was utilised by the RAF. Thirty years ago, the camp was shut. The officers’ mess and most of the barracks blocks were boarded up.

‘Internally, the ceilings have collapsed, and asbestos has been exposed. To bring those buildings back into use would cost an absolute fortune.’

In his announcement this week, Mr Pollard said MoD military planners were now reviewing all sites, including Scampton, as part of a new government push to close down migrant hotels.

He said: ‘The Home Office has decided against accommodation that the Ministry of Defence offered in the past. But we’re looking at all of them again at the moment.

‘The Prime Minister wants all asylum hotels closed, as do I, as does the British public.

‘And by standing up temporary accommodation on those sites, we can support the closure of those asylum hotels even faster.’ 

Mr Pollard added: ‘We’ve deployed a military planning team into Border Security Command and the Home Office to look at military and non-military sites, about where we can help build temporary but adequate accommodation that enables us to transfer those folks from asylum hotels into that temporary accommodation so we can close even more hotels.’

Edy Hammonds, originally from South America, has lived in Scampton for 38 years. 

He said: ‘I suppose I am an immigrant myself. But I have lived here longer than my own country.

‘As soon as I heard the news, I thought “It can’t be true. We are not going to have to start all over again for goodness sake”.

‘I cannot see it happening, but they are going to have a lot of trouble because we will fight even harder this time. I will fight.

‘I hope it doesn’t happen. We went through a stage last year when people were not coming into the village, and we were scared to walk the dogs near the air base.

‘The whole thing is ridiculous.’

In August, it was revealed that the previous failed effort to use Scampton as accommodation for migrants had cost the Home Office at least £48 million.

A Ministry of Defence representative did not rule out revisiting these plans and said the department would issue an update when a final decision had been made.

Pete Sherwood, 62, said: ‘It is Labour going back on their word again as soon as they got back into Government.

‘All the MPs need to do is send the migrants back as soon as their boats land.

‘I do not agree with this at all, especially if they are talking about thousands in there.

‘They are going to get bused into Lincoln, and Lincoln will be affected quite a lot. People will just stop going out because they have seen what has happened down in Essex.’

Fury down in Epping, Essex, developed after the Home Office won an appeal against the closure of their local migrant hotel – the Bell.

The Court of Appeal set aside an injunction granted earlier this month, which would have prevented 138 asylum seekers from being accommodated at the hotel beyond September 12. 

Lawyers for the then Home Secretary Yvette Cooper had claimed that closing the hotel would set a ‘dangerous precedent’ that would have encouraged similar litigation by other councils.

Residents of Essex have been demonstrating outside the hotel for weeks in protest of the decision. They participated in anti-immigration demonstrations last week in Chichester, Cheshunt, and Bournemouth, as well as in other cities.

Visiting Scampton from nearby Lincoln, Mark Jauncey, 35, said: ‘I am surprised this has all come back again. It will affect the whole area if this goes ahead.

‘It won’t be just this village that is affected. But the publicity worked last time, so I suspect the locals will be all out protesting again.’

As a life-long engineer, villager Colin Wilson, 79, reckoned the whole scheme would be doomed before any work even started.

He said: ‘It has proved a bad idea in the past. They invested all that money last year when they rushed into this without knowing what they are doing.

‘I would imagine the land is contaminated, there is not adequate sewage, water or drainage systems. They went into it half-a***d in the first place.

‘I have been in engineering and construction all my life. I know all about ck ups, and this is set to be a major ck up.

‘The whole subject of immigration is a disaster. The old buildings are full of asbestos and would cost a fortune to put right.’

Mr Wilson added that an influx of asylum seekers would lead to disruption in the sleepy village. 

‘If it does go ahead, crime will go up,’ he said. ‘I understand they are coming from poverty as economic migrants.

‘I have worked in the Middle East and have seen poverty, so of course it looks better over here.’

Steve Hanks, 47, had built two houses for sale in the village when the bomb shell announcement was originally made last year.

He said: ‘It has caused me all sorts of problems already. When it was announced, all the viewings I had and the interest was killed off overnight.

‘Using the base is not even a solution. It is just pushing the problem further down the road.’

Meanwhile, Tom said, ‘It is not good for the people who live around here. Everyone thought this idea was done and dusted, but now we have this U-turn.

‘There is nothing here for any of them to do. We have not even got a shop. There is a pub, and that is it. It will affect some people’s house prices too.

‘I know they have got a lot of people coming in and they have to put them somewhere. But it always has to be in the neighbourhood of someone not making the decisions.

‘They would not put them in Keir Starmer’s back yard.’

Sir Edward Leigh, the MP for Gainsborough, has previously maintained that Scampton should not be taken into consideration as a place to settle migrants.

A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘We have committed to close all asylum hotels and to achieve this, we will look at a range of cheaper, more appropriate sites like disused accommodation, industrial and ex-military sites so that we can reduce the impact on communities.

‘We are working closely with local authorities, property partners and across-government so that we can accelerate delivery and more detail will be set out in due course.’

Sally Grindrod-Smith, Director of Planning, Regeneration and Communities at the council, said: ‘West Lindsey District Council remains clear in our position that RAF Scampton is wholly unsuitable as a site for asylum accommodation.

‘The location presents significant challenges, including the protection of nationally important heritage, the limitations of local rural infrastructure, unresolved contamination issues, and the sheer scale of disruption such a proposal would cause to our communities.’

‘The Home Office officially abandoned its plans for the site a year ago this month, acknowledging its unsuitability and being found not being value for money.

‘Sally explained that should any future proposals be revisited, the Council will continue to insist on full transparency, robust planning scrutiny, and meaningful consultation with residents.

She added: ‘Working with our Development Partner Sampton Holdings Limited, we are committed to securing a positive future for RAF Scampton. We have already submitted an Expression of Interest to acquire the site and remain ready to deliver our ambitious £300 million regeneration plan.

‘This plan would protect the site’s heritage, create jobs, attract investment, and provide long-term benefits for West Lindsey and beyond. RAF Scampton’s future is too important to be jeopardised by short-term or unsuitable proposals.’

Any person who is coming over by dinghy and not by the appropriate channels should be considered a terrorist. Blast them out of the water as invaders, and no more will come – harsh but effective, because while our government are letting them into the country, our once great country is turning into a third world cesspit.

These people are not migrants; they are illegal immigrants who have no right to be accommodated anywhere by us!

Moving them from hotels to barracks or anywhere will cost the UK millions of pounds to provide them with more facilities.

Tents in fields – they are illegal – treat them as such. The UK owes them nothing.

Also, we need to put armed soldiers around the perimeters, making them as uncomfortable as possible; they might then go home.

They offer nothing beneficial to our nation, but as soon as they are here, they are treated like royalty, whereas destitute British citizens are simply ignored.

Taxpayers’ own government money – the government doesn’t have its own money; it belongs to the taxpayers. Starmer and his buddies must leave office immediately because the British people have had enough of them destroying our country.

And to think, just 80 years after World War II, the UK is totally unrecognisable thanks to subsequent governments. They are supposed to protect the British people, and that just isn’t happening.