Hamish Falconer: Stop RAF Scampton being turned into a detention camp

I planned to write this Lincolnite column about something else, but last week the Conservative Government did a very strange thing: they told the press they had plans to turn a recently abandoned RAF station in Lincolnshire into a detention camp for migrants. 

We all know where they mean: RAF Scampton, the former home of 617 Squadron ‘the Dambusters’. I went to Scampton’s closing ceremony in September and was moved to see the Red Arrows in one of their final displays before moving to RAF Waddington. 

But the departure of the station from Scampton, does not mean the site was lying empty: an ambitious plan had been agreed and announced less than 24 hours before the Conservative briefing.

It’s a plan that would bring £300 million of investment and thousands of jobs to Lincoln and our surrounding area.

It would, and I hope will, support our expertise in space and aviation and keep the airspace above Scampton operational- the station has one of the longest runways in the country, potentially suitable for the space industry.

The plans also include a continued focus on the heritage of the historic station which not only launched the daring Dambusters raid but spawned three recipients of the Victoria Cross including Guy Gibson. 

But the investors, the district council, and the service families and veterans who still live on the station now find themselves in limbo.

The Scampton Development Corporation say they cannot continue with their plans if the Conservatives continue with theirs. So far, there has been no public confirmation from the Government. 

It’s time to bring this limbo to an end: I’ve started a petition calling on the Conservatives to announce that they will let the Scampton development go ahead and end these damaging rumours. 

Those who live on the station utterly oppose the detention camp plans, but not because they are opposed to migrants.

They tell me they were appalled by the pathetic far right protestors, obviously from outside the county,  who tried to break into the station, harass locals, and make youtube videos from inside the station. They got short shrift locally and were sent on their way.

Those who live there oppose these camp plans because they are proud of Scampton’s history and ambitious for its future as part of Lincoln’s heritage, aviation and space industries. 

The petition has got more than 4000 signatures since it launched this afternoon: if you agree please do sign up here https://chng.it/YHxxKzPS9w