Piddington residents vote for symbolic secession over asylum seeker housing plans

Residents of Piddington, a small Oxfordshire village with approximately 350 inhabitants, have expressed strong opposition to government plans to house 1,250 single adult male asylum seekers at the nearby former Ministry of Defence (MoD) Bicester Garrison site.

In response to the proposal, villagers held a protest picnic and voted 96% in favor of a symbolic referendum to secede from the United Kingdom. Local residents have voiced concerns regarding the village's capacity to absorb such a large number of people and have expressed fears regarding personal safety and potential disturbances near local amenities like the Jubilee Reserve.

Community members have pushed back against suggestions that their opposition is based on wealth, stating instead that the concerns stem from the scale of the proposed housing project in relation to the small community size.