Residents of Piddington in Oxfordshire are holding an unofficial referendum on leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), as Conservative and Reform politicians renewed calls for Britain to withdraw from the treaty.
The vote has been organised by the village’s 350 residents amid opposition to plans to accommodate more than 1,200 male asylum seekers at a former military camp near Bicester, around two miles away. The result is expected at about 7am on Wednesday.
Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp and Reform UK equalities spokesman Suella Braverman visited the village to support the campaign, which organisers hope will send a message to Westminster.
Parish councillors said hundreds of other villages had contacted them for advice on holding similar votes. Reform leader Nigel Farage has pledged to support any areas that decide to organise their own referendums.
The proposed accommodation is part of a Government plan to move asylum seekers into former military sites in an effort to reduce the use of hotels and cut the asylum bill. Two other sites, at Crowborough in East Sussex and Wethersfield in Essex, have already opened.
Residents have raised concerns about safety and the impact on daily life in Piddington. More than 20 women have reportedly signed up for self-defence classes after police allegedly advised them to take precautions before the asylum seekers arrive.
In an open letter sent to every female MP, the women wrote: “Our safety, our security and our freedoms will be under threat.” They said only four of the 226 parliamentarians contacted had responded: Conservative MPs Joy Morrissey and Sarah Bool, and Reform’s Sarah Pochin and Ms Braverman.
Louise Brooker, 51, said she feared the village would effectively be “on lockdown”. She told the Sun: “I won’t feel safe walking along the road. And that’s in the daylight.”
She said Piddington had few streetlights, which did not remain on throughout the night, adding that the village could become “completely pitch black” in winter.
Melise Witkin, 59, said the issue was about safety rather than wealth or poverty. “We are 356 people in the village with 46 children and 1,250 men turning up is a recipe for disaster,” she said.
Another resident, a mother of three, said her family’s lives had been “changed forever” by the decision. Other villagers questioned why the Government had not provided data on the criminality of migrants in the UK.
The parish council has also claimed it was given only 10 days to respond to a 1,000-word planning document concerning the proposed camp.
Ms Braverman described the scale of the proposed development as “stark” during her visit. “This will dramatically transform the character of the village,” she said, adding: “These are the wrong plans for this village, and you know only harm and damage will come from it.”
Mr Philp, who was accompanied by Ms Morrissey, said residents were “clearly terrified” about the safety of their children and grandchildren. He claimed that leaving the ECHR would allow the Government to deport illegal immigrants upon arrival, rather than accommodating them in communities such as Piddington.
Ms Morrissey said Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch had asked her to attend the visit on her behalf. The vote itself has no legal force, but organisers hope a result in favour of “independence” will increase pressure on ministers over the asylum accommodation plans and the ECHR.
