English Village Votes to ‘Leave’ UK Over Massive Asylum Center Plan
One tiny English village has found a dramatic way to tell the British government it has had enough.
Residents of Piddington, Oxfordshire, voted overwhelmingly to symbolically secede from the United Kingdom after the government proposed housing up to 1,256 male asylum seekers at a former military site near the village.
The result wasn’t close.
Of 312 ballots cast, 285 backed “secession,” 26 opposed it and one ballot was spoiled. With Piddington home to only about 350 people, the proposed asylum facility could house more than three times the village’s entire population.
Welcome to the “Principality of Piddington.”
The referendum has no legal power to remove Piddington from the United Kingdom. But villagers made clear that legal independence wasn’t really the point. The vote was designed as a protest against the government’s plan and what residents say has been inadequate consultation with the community.
Parish council chairman Tim McNally said the result was intended to send a message to the government. Residents even unveiled a new sign declaring their home the “Principality of Piddington.”
At the center of the fight is the former MoD Bicester military site, located roughly half a mile from Piddington. The government wants to use the property to accommodate as many as 1,256 male asylum seekers as part of its effort to reduce reliance on costly asylum hotels.
Residents have raised concerns about safety, infrastructure, property values and the sheer scale of placing such a large facility beside a community of roughly 350 people. The government, meanwhile, says it needs alternatives to asylum hotels and argues that responsibility for accommodation should be distributed more fairly across the country.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy acknowledged residents’ frustration while defending the broader policy, saying the government was working to reduce the asylum backlog and move away from hotel accommodation.
Piddington residents decided to make their objection impossible to ignore.
The village may not actually be leaving Britain.
But after a 285-26 vote, it certainly got Britain’s attention.