An advanced plan to house up to 1,500 male asylum seekers at a former RAF base in North Yorkshire has been abandoned in another immigration policy climbdown by Conservative ministers.
Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, confirmed he had “withdrawn the offer” to the Home Office to set up the reception centre in the small village of Linton-on-Ouse. The development comes after both candidates standing to be the next prime minister, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, ruled out sticking to the plans if they were to become leader.
