1,256 Asylum Seekers To Be Housed At UK Taxpayers’ Expense

LONDON, Sept 16: Residents of the Oxfordshire village of Piddington have voted in a symbolic referendum to declare independence from the United Kingdom, protesting government plans to house more than 1,200 asylum seekers at a nearby military site.

The vote was held Tuesday after the local parish council organized the referendum over Home Office plans to accommodate up to 1,256 male asylum seekers at Site A, part of the former Bicester Garrison site between Piddington and Upper Arncott.

About 350 residents were eligible to vote, with 312 ballots cast. Of those, 285 voted in favor of leaving the UK.

Announcing the result, Susannah Parden, vice chair of Piddington Parish Council, said: “We are Piddington, the village that roars.”

Parish council chair Tim McNally described the vote as “an example of democracy in operation,” saying residents had started with what he called a “plucky idea” and had delivered a message to the world.

The referendum has no legal effect and does not change Piddington’s status as part of the UK.

The Home Office announced in January that it planned to use the military site to accommodate asylum seekers as part of efforts to provide additional migrant accommodation.