Reform council pulls funding for refugee events

The new leader of St Helens council has said the authority will not "engage with or fund" any Refugee Week activity this year.

In previous years, the Labour-run administration contributed financially to the events which celebrated the "contributions, creativity, and resilience of refugees", they said.

But George Woodward, leader of the local Reform UK party which won a huge majority on the council at last month's local elections, said withdrawing support was a statement of intent and showed the authority's commitment to "putting British people first".

An organisation which supports refugees in St Helens said it had been asked by the council to return funding allocated to it.

Woodward said spending taxpayers money on the events would not be a good use of council resources.

He said the definition of a refugee had been "corrupted" and questioned whether people who had been granted asylum were genuinely fleeing war and persecution.

The money at the centre of the row comes from central government and is ring-fenced for refugee resettlement schemes.

Woodward said he would ideally send the money back to government and would look to do so in future.

"In my view the council should be focusing on getting the basics right rather than prioritising refugees and illegal migrants," he said.

"People voted for Reform because they feel that the basics are not being fulfilled."

The previous Labour administration had allocated £60,000 for Refugee Week events, including a street food festival run by non-profit organisation Laziz Project.

Along with language courses, the project runs a weekly cafe.

Director Emma Bamber sought legal advice and was able to keep the money which was already allocated to her organisation, after the council requested the cash be returned.

While the event will still go ahead, Bamber said aspects of it which the council had withdrawn funding for would not, but local people have since started a fundraiser to help.

"We're trying to plug these gaps because this is what makes this event amazing," she said.

"The music, the art, it's all part of culture and the idea that they could just withdraw all these things, it's just heartbreaking."

Bamber said refugees had been "given the right to remain here and to live here" and that it was the UK's duty "as a rich country to support sanctuary seekers".

She added: "A lot of the time you hear [asylum seeker] in the news but you never actually meet one... so sit down, eat with somebody, learn their story and realise that they are a human being just like you."

A St Helens Borough Council spokesperson said the £60,000 previously earmarked for Refugee Week will now be spent in other areas, namely in supporting "refugees in resettlement".

In a statement, they said: "Government guidance on this matter states that local authorities can use resettlement grant funding for housing, education, healthcare, language training, casework, and integration support."

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