The people of a quaint English village took a dramatic step on July 4 toward possibly seceding from the United Kingdom over the Labour government’s plans to dump over a thousand military-age male migrants in their backyard.
The Home Office announced late last month that the leftist government was considering turning Ministry of Defence Bicester — an inactive military base roughly 2 miles away from Piddington in the southeast English county of Oxfordshire — into a “largely self-sufficient” destination for “people seeking asylum.”
‘I want my kids to grow up safe.’
The Home Office noted that the site would operate for at least 10 years; be used as a destination for single adult male migrants between the ages of 18 and 65, many of whom “arrived in the U.K. by an illegal route”; be run by “an experienced, specialist provider of asylum accommodation”; and have 24/7 security.
The BBC reported that the Home Office plans to house 1,250 migrant men at the Bicester base. The population of the migrant base would therefore be roughly 250% greater than the population of Piddington, which was 358 as of 2021.
The site, which migrants will apparently be able to enter and leave at their pleasure, would reportedly be within earshot of an existing play area for children and families.
Calum Miller, the Liberal Democrats MP for Bicester, said in a June 26 letter to the minister for border security and asylum that “this is the wrong location for such a facility.”
“I cannot understand how the Government could consider this rural location an appropriate site to house over 1,000 people,” Miller added.
Ben Montgomery/Getty Images
Protesters have in recent days taken to the streets of Bicester — a town with a population of 56,200 just northwest of Piddington — to express their concerns over the safety of the nearby base’s transformation into a stomping ground for foreign military-age men.
Kelsey Day, a mother who attended the protest with her three sons and husband, told the BBC, “We’re not against migrants coming over here, but they should come legally.”
“We don’t know who these men are, we don’t know where they’re from and what they’re about,” Day continued. “I want my kids to grow up safe.”
Another protester identified only as Sam blasted the use of the site as a “male-only dumping ground.”
“I feel we’re constantly being called racist, and that’s not the case. I don’t care what color you are or where you come from; if there is a risk to my children, that’s enough for me,” Sam said.
The people of neighboring Piddington — some of whom are not only worried about rapacious foreigners skulking around their village but about a possible devaluation of their real estate — have gone a step further in their opposition to the proposed migrant accommodations.
Taking a page out of the book of rebels across the Atlantic 250 years ago, the village voted on July 4 to hold a referendum on seceding from Britain. According to the Express, 175 adult villagers voted in favor of holding the independence vote, and only seven voted no.
Parish Council Chair Tim McNally told the Express, “We had an incredible result with almost two-thirds of the village voting — the rest were children — and an acceptance of 96%. It was truly astonishing.”
“Self-determination is what people want whilst they are being ignored and driven into a corner. This is a natural human instinct and reaction,” McNally continued. “The Principality of Piddington, the village that roared, will put together their council and representatives to empower themselves.”
McNally’s plan is to take the result to Cherwell District Council and his member of parliament and — in the event of a successful leave referendum and subsequent declaration of independence — notify the U.S. ambassador and, ultimately, President Donald Trump.
The Home Office statistics show that at the end of March 2026, 48,758 foreigners were awaiting an initial decision on their asylum claims, and 97,519 foreigners were receiving asylum support in the United Kingdom. There were 54,179 single applicants and 43,340 members of family groups receiving government support at taxpayers’ expense.
UK Home Office
As of the end of March, there were 14 supported asylum seekers per 10,000 residents of the United Kingdom. In the North East and North West of England, however, the numbers are much higher — 26 and 25 foreigners supported per 10,000 residents.
In addition to the proposed migrant base in Oxfordshire, the Home Office is planning possible migrant accommodations in the counties of Essex, North Yorkshire, and Suffolk.
The leftist government has also committed to increasing the number of migrants housed at Ministry of Defence Police Wethersfield, a former Royal Air Force base in north Essex, from 800 to 1,220.
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United kingdom, England, Asylum seekers, Immigration, Replacement, Britain, Secession, Politics
