Villages join revolt over migrant camps
Villagers say the plan would place 1,256 male asylum seekers at a nearby former military base without enough local consultation, and the vote has no legal force.
- On Tuesday, residents of Piddington, Oxfordshire, cast ballots in a symbolic referendum to secede from the United Kingdom, protesting government plans to house up to 1,256 male asylum seekers at the nearby MoD Bicester site.
- The Home Office fast-tracked an Urgent Crown Development application for the former military base, prompting intense local opposition as residents fear the facility will destroy village character despite government assurances the site aims to be as self-contained as possible.
- Villagers organized the ballot at the village hall, with residents describing the symbolic protest as reflecting concerns over their community of about 350 people facing a demographic shift from the proposed facility.
- Reform UK championed the secessionist tactic, with Reform UK MP Suella Braverman and Reform MP Sarah Pochin visiting to support residents who claim the government "does not want to engage with villagers concerns" regarding the project's impact.
- Although the symbolic referendum holds no legal weight, parish chair Tim McNally said the vote sends "a really powerful message to the government that we're being ignored and disenfranchised," potentially signaling broader national discontent with asylum accommodation policies.
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The arrival of the new residents by order of the Government in the parish of Piddington, with 358 inhabitants, without shops, commissioner or medical center, has caused the neighbors to organize a referendum of symbolic independence
Village bordering Buckinghamshire votes to become independent from UK in referendum responding to asylum seeker housing plans
A village bordering Buckinghamshire has voted to become independent from the United Kingdom in a referendum, as a response to proposals to house more than 1,000 asylum seekers nearby.
British Village Votes for Secession Over Government Plan to Flood It With Migrants.
Piddington, a village in Oxfordshire, England, has voted for the second time to secede from the United Kingdom in protest of plans to house 1,256 male asylum seekers at a nearby disused military site.
(Berlin=Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Gye-yeon = A small British village with approximately 350 residents has declared that it will establish an independent state following a referendum. Currently, 4% of the population...
The results were in by Wednesday morning in the village of Piddington.
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