A Labour-run council has been offering cooking classes to asylum seekers so they can “experience joy”.
Cambridge City Council has launched a new set of community grants to fund lessons for migrants, which include arts and cultural projects and gardening.
It follows the council leader awarding himself a 33 per cent pay rise, with the council facing a £3.6million budget gap.
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A council spokesman told The Telegraph the pay increase “reflects the step-change in workload in recent years and additional responsibilities linked to the pace of growth in Cambridge, and work with the Cambridge Growth Company”.
The spokesman added that leaders at the council “regularly work 60+ hours” a week.
“Without offering a level of remuneration comparable to the national living wage, the position of leader would be restricted to retirees and the independently wealthy,” they added.
A closer look at the scheme
Resettlement Community Grants were launched on July 23, offering up to £30,000 to asylum seekers for “arts and cultural projects, community crafts, cooking and food, gardening and connecting with nature, sports and other opportunities to experience joy”.
The council also said it would “extend support to enable more refugees or asylum seekers to settle in Cambridge”.
Reform MP Lee Anderson told GB News: “What a great idea. After a few days out and about, bothering locals, committing crimes and in some cases, attacking women and girls, then what a great way to unwind.
“Although I’m not sure how useful these cooking skills will be, seeing as they all get three square meals a day.
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Migrants have been taught cooking lessons
“Maybe it would be better to teach them that the vast majority of the British public do not want them here.”
The council denied that the arts and culture scheme for migrants would lead to reductions in other services such as bin collections and insisted that it continues to collect all waste.
A council spokesman noted that Cambridge is “proud to offer such a range of grants”, which allow for “projects that will help to reduce social or economic inequality for Cambridge residents with needs”.
Former Tory home secretary Sir James Cleverly was very critical of the decision, saying it “speaks volumes” of Labour.
Cleverly told The Telegraph: “Labour councils are spending taxpayers’ money on cooking and gardening lessons to asylum seekers, while cutting back on bin collections, all the while hiking council tax to record highs.”
The only member of the council to oppose the movement was Tory councillor Delowar Hossain, who also opposed South Cambridgeshire District Council to continue operating a four-day week.
Hossain stated: “Our residents work hard and pay taxes for full services. A four-day work week would mean they get only 80 per cent of the service for the same tax they currently pay.”
Cambridge City Council previously came under fire for advertising a job contract for ‘asylum seekers and refugees’ worth £250k that includes in its list of requirements promoting ‘anti-racism’ practices.
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Migrants have also been taught gardening lessons
The contract, titled ‘The Provision of Specialist advice and support for asylum seekers and refugees’, has been open to applicants since February 10. The contract is worth £250,000 and must be delivered by 31 March 2028.
The job description reads: ‘Cambridge City Council supports the resettlement of displaced people who have travelled to the UK on various routes. As a Council, we recognise that world events can quickly influence what is required of a service for asylum seekers and refugees.
‘Therefore, it is important that any service is flexible to these needs and has an existing understanding of different customs and cultures, as well as a passion to work in this field.’
Included in the list of responsibilities, which are not “exhaustive and are likely to change over time”, is to “Understand and work to tackle institutional discrimination through promoting anti-racist practice”.
In addition, the winning provider will be expected to “advocate for the rights of asylum seekers and refugees” and “promote cultural activities within the city”.
The contract has sparked backlash on X, with one user writing: “I pay council tax in Cambridge, and I am indeed outraged.”
A second user said they were not surprised by the contract, claiming that the council “has long been woke”.
In response to a request for comment, a Cambridge City Council spokesperson said: ‘The formal resettlement schemes for refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine were introduced by the previous Government and continued by the current Government. The scheme requires local authorities to deliver support for refugees settled through these programmes as well as asylum seekers whose asylum claims are granted and are living in and around Cambridge.
“We receive funding from central Government to deliver these services in line with what is expected of councils across the country.
“In Cambridge, we know that our residents are particularly supportive of people seeking refuge – in 2022 hundreds opened their homes to enable people to leave Ukraine when the war broke out – and as a council we are proudly a city of sanctuary, happy to support people who have left everything behind to seek safety.”
A spokesman for Cambridge City Council said: “Cambridge City Council has various grants available to support our community, all with the aim of reducing social and economic deprivation and bringing communities together.
“The council is proud to offer such a range of grants, including our Community Grants, which allow the voluntary and community sector to run projects that will help to reduce social or economic inequality for Cambridge residents with the most need; our Homelessness Prevention Grants; and our Sustainable City Grants.
“Our Resettlement Community Grants programme is for organisations wanting to deliver support and activities to help people resettle and is funded by central Government. This funding was introduced by the previous Government to deliver resettlement schemes in line with what is expected of councils across the country.
“The work of the voluntary and community sector plays a key and valued role in making our communities stronger and more resilient.”