English Village Votes To Leave UK Over Plan For Migrants - Newsweek

Residents of an English village have voted to become independent from the United Kingdom in a symbolic referendum spurred by anger over plans to house migrants in its vicinity.

Villagers in Piddington—located about 60 miles north of London in Oxfordshire—voted on Tuesday in response to proposals to house up to 1,250 male asylum-seekers at a former military base in nearby Bicester.

Of its 350 residents, 285 voted to leave the U.K. in the nonbinding referendum, signaling villagers' discontent at the U.K. Home Office's asylum policies. Newsweek has contacted the Piddington Parish Council for comment.

Oxfordshire County Council told Newsweek on Wednesday that no final decisions had been communicated by the Home Office regarding the future use of the former Ministry of Defense site near Bicester.

Although the result has no legal basis, the ballot shows the strength of feeling against the U.K. government's plans to convert the former military base into a center for asylum-seekers and highlights the fraught issue of immigration for new Labour Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

"We are Piddington the village that roars," said Susannah Parden, the vice chair of the village's parish council, the BBC reported.

The residents voted in July to hold the referendum, which villager Herbert Owen, 76, told the Oxford Mail was "everything our grandparents, our parents fought for." He added that the ballot was "the Battle of Britain."

Parish Chairman Tim McNally told the publication that the vote gave "an absolute message, not just to the region, not just to the country, but to the world."

There was a turnout of 92 percent of eligible voters, with only 26 of the village's 350 residents voting against the motion and one spoiled ballot recorded. The ballots were returned to a small box outside the village hall.

The UK government wants to use the Urgent Crown Development process to allow Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to bypass local planning authorities and house asylum-seekers.

The Home Office has said the government is closing asylum hotels to save over £1 billion ($1.35 billion) on asylum support and is working to move asylum-seekers into alternative accommodation, including former military sites, to reduce the impact on local communities.

Oxfordshire County Council told Newsweek in a statement that any proposal of this scale should be developed in partnership with local communities and public services, with full transparency about the implications for local residents and local infrastructure.

"We recognize that residents in Piddington and surrounding communities have questions about the proposal and its potential impact," the statement said. "Our focus has been on seeking clarity from the government, raising concerns on behalf of local communities, and ensuring that any arrangements are properly planned and adequately resourced."

McNally said that villagers in Piddington had not been consulted on the government's proposals, which has lowered house prices and seen banks pull out of mortgage agreements.

"We've had people who've got pensions in their properties have to be revaluated, because the value of their property is no longer what it was," he told the Oxford Mail.

Parish Councilor Mike Nixon said the site in Bicester had no pedestrian access, with the nearest path was about a mile and quarter away down a busy, unlit road.

U.K. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told Sky News that the Labour government was speeding up the processing of asylum claims and that it was not acceptable for poorer communities to shoulder the burden of asylum and temporary accommodation.

Nandy added, "What I would just gently say to the people of Piddington is—we inherited a massive asylum backlog."

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly and Shakeema Edwards.