Andy Burnham’s comms team has had much more success than his predecessor’s, playing into the Prime Minister’s chirpy Northern persona with talk of Twiglets and Greggs. He is attempting to persuade voters that because he is just like them, he must have their best interests at heart. This week, however, the mask slipped.

Speaking on Tuesday, Burnham said that the planting of migrants across Britain should no longer be confined to less economically developed areas; from now on, the middle class should also “play their part” by hosting these people in their communities. For Burnham, this is a “point of principle”. Downing Street later confirmed that he was committed to the plan, despite the increased costs of housing immigrants in wealthier areas. His ministers were also quick to toe the new line. Anna Turley, Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum, said it was about “fairness”.

These comments have revealed that the Prime Minister and his team clearly do not understand what the public wants. It would be wrong to assume that those living in working-class areas burdened by the presence of migration would simply want to shift this affliction onto other areas of the country. In fact, polling is clear that people across the entirety of Britain do not want more migrants to be housed in their area. Almost a third of Britons believe that their local area is already housing more than its fair share of migrants, with a further 29% suggesting that their areas have enough. Only 8% of people said they were housing less than their fair share of migrants. Even among broadly pro-migration Labour voters, only 9% said they felt their area should house more migrants.

And yet, such migrants — many of whom have doubtful claims to be escaping life-threatening circumstances — are now to be distributed to even more areas of the country at an increased cost to the taxpayer. What part of this is fair, exactly?

Small villages across the country are already feeling the burden of taking on large numbers of migrants. The tiny village of Piddington in affluent Oxfordshire, with only 314 residents and not a single shop, is now expected to have to house up to 1,250 migrants at a nearby military installation. MOD Bicester sits near the village’s sports pitches and a recreation area, with several gardens backing directly onto the site. Last month, in anger and frustration at the proposals, the village symbolically voted on a referendum to secede from the UK with an overwhelming 96% majority. The MP for Piddington is the Liberal Democrat Calum Miller. There are few things that would threaten the stranglehold that Ed Davey’s dopey liberalism has over contemporary Middle England more than a mass influx of young, foreign men.

Burnham’s initial comms success has, in part, obscured the rising tide of immigration fatigue, thanks to his common-sense platitudes about pubs and the cost of living. This honeymoon period, however, could quickly be ruined. As more and more voters turn to parties such as Restore Britain and Reform UK, whose principal demand is a sharp reduction — or even reversal — in immigration, it is bizarre that the Prime Minister should respond by acting with such apparent disregard for public opinion.