Andy Burnham accused of creating a 'class divide' after telling wealthy areas to house asylum seekers

Andy Burnham has been accused of creating a "class divide" after calling on all communities, including "wealthy areas", to "play their part" in housing asylum seekers.

Speaking to GB News, Crowborough resident Gaz hit out at the Prime Minister's remarks amid ongoing protest from his town about the housing of asylum seekers.

Addresing the crisis for the first time since becoming Prime Minister, Andy Burnham argued that wealthy parts of the country cannot dodge their share of housing asylum seekers.

He said: "I do have to say 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. It's a challenging issue."

Taking issue with Mr Burnham's remarks, Gaz told GB News that "everybody's already taking more than their fair share".

He said: "He's trying to create a class divide now, on top of all the problems we've got with the migrant crisis by saying that we've got to incorporate the middle class.

"These HMOs are already in every class of society, and it's not going to get any better. He's already said that it's more about facilitating them than it is for stopping them."

Highlighting the impact of hosting a migrant camp in their community, Gaz made clear that the Government moving in asylum seekers has "already changed" the dynamic of the town.

He explained: "It's already changed it. The fact is that you don't see the people out walking their dogs, you don't see them enjoying the freedom of our leafy suburb.

"It's completely changed the outlook of our town, and it's not going to get any better. It's really not.

"And that's going to affect every town in this this country. I've been saying it since day one, and now we've got the likes of Piddington and Bicester all about to suffer the same consequences that we are."

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Gaz urged the Government to come directly to the towns affected by plans to house asylum seekers, and find out "how much it is impacting our lives".

He told GB News: "What members of Parliament need to be doing is going to speak to people in the areas that are affected. There's no point them discussing it in the House of Lords when they have no reality on what's actually happening.

"Come and see people that are actually in Crowborough, Bicester, Linton, Crawley, everywhere that's affected. Let's get on top of it, let's see what the actual taxpayers actually feel and how their lives are affected."

As host Christopher Hope argued that if asylum accommodation is dispersed nationally, it may "become a problem that everyone recognises and we may get some more urgency from our leaders to tackle it".

Disagreeing with Christopher, Gaz responded: "I don't think it makes any difference, they've already got a pre-agenda that they're coming over on the boats. These people at the top don't come and speak to those effected directly. How are they going to know what is happening and how people feel?"

He concluded: "No one's ever said from the beginning that they're all bad or anything, but the fact that we have cadets thrown out of a camp that's been used for decades, the fact that we've now got unknown people roaming around the streets and we've got elderly who don't want to go out walking to the shops now.

"Ladies that don't want to go on their evening jogs, they don't want to go and walk their dogs because they're concerned.

"Yes, we don't know everyone that's around us, but when you've got suddenly 500 people in one big clump, that's a lot more more unnerving than one person you might pass in the street that you don't know their name."