Time for a change,

Dear Prime Minister,

Following the confusion, lack of consultation and frankly bullying attitude displayed towards the people of Scampton by the Home Office and in turn your government, I believe that it is time for a change. Time for you to recognise that we, the people of Scampton are also human beings with as much right to be heard as anyone else, including you.

The process by which we were bluntly and aggressively told by the Home Office that they would commandeer this National Treasure, one day after the announcement by West Lindsey District Council and Scampton Holdings that they would redevelop this site, preserving its history and heritage whilst at the same time injecting £300 million of private investment into its future and creating over 1,000 jobs for the people of Lincolnshire in these difficult, beleaguered times, was to put it plainly unacceptable.

We are the electorate, we are the residents, we are human beings with human rights.

The stress that this decision has caused is immeasurable, not least because of the number of people seeking asylum that you propose to accommodate here. 2,000 + into a tiny community of just under 700 souls is nearly three times our population. Go to anywhere in the country, your own constituency of Richmond for example (population 52,714), and tell them that they’ll have to accommodate 158,142 additional people virtually overnight and see how they feel about that? Then tell them that the entirety of that 158,142 will be young men. Then give them no other interaction, blank them, stonewall them and see how they feel about that? My guess is that you wouldn’t dare, and rightly so.

This is the exact predicament that we, the people of Scampton find ourselves in thanks to your Home Secretary, and it is unacceptable and as I’ve said frankly bullying.

Then there is the cost, in the middle of a “Cost of living crisis.” RAF Scampton is in such a shocking and neglectful state of disrepair that the estimated cost of making it fit for human habitation is between £18 million and £42 million, add on the estimated annual cost of each asylum seeker to the state of approximately £51,000 ,this adds an additional £102 million per annum, all of which is presumably to be found from our (taxpayer) pockets?

As opposed to the approved, privately funded investment by Scampton Holdings of £300 million, and let’s not forget that’s just the initial investment. That takes no account of the potential returns which may run into the billions over the coming years. Billions which will generate healthy tax returns to the exchequer and the nation, not to mention the prosperity and jobs it will bring to a part of the country that is in direct need of it. Standing in the way of this project is not only nonsensical and short-sighted, it’s not, “Conservative.”

We have an opportunity here to save a national treasure and deliver on, “Levelling up,” without your government having to pay for it. All you have to do is let it happen, as I’ve said before, to quote Churchill, “Give us the tools and we’ll finish the job.”

I suppose in the end it’s a question of legacy. How we choose to remember and honour our brave fallen, those who sacrificed their, “Tomorrows,” for our, “Todays,” how we choose to commemorate their incredible bravery and sacrifice, and for you, how you choose to be remembered, the Prime Minister who saved Scampton and allowed it to flourish, or the Prime Minister who chose to, “Wash his hands of it,” and let it die.

You will understand better than most that History never forgets. I suppose it comes down to whether you’d rather be remembered as a Prime Minister of hope, or a Prime Minister of despair? But rest assured, you will make your choice and history will forever remember it. I hope you choose wisely.

Yours sincerely,

Mr. Jason Bayliss.

#saveourscampton