Locals living in a village that is soon to be outnumbered by migrants have criticised Andy Burnham‘s plans to make middle-class areas house asylum seekers.
The Prime Minister said this week that he would make sure arrivals were not only placed in the ‘poorest communities’ and ‘all parts of the country need to play their part’.
But locals living in Piddington are infuriated by proposals to house 1,250 males at a migrant camp near the tiny Oxfordshire village at Bicester barracks.
Such is the ire of villagers, where just 350 people live, they have voted to stage a symbolic referendum on leaving the UK as part of their protests.
The vote was backed by the parish council, with its chairman Tim McNally saying people are fed up with not being listened to.
They have cried foul that the plans are ‘completely inappropriate’, impractical, and unnecessary, and say it has taken months to get any sort of response from Labour.
The Daily Mail visited the quaint village this week where white signs with red block capital letters reading ‘No to Bicester MoD asylum centre here’ greet visitors.
Mr McNally, 60, chair of Piddington Parish Council, said he was concerned by the amount of energy it had taken for Mr Burnham ‘to even respond to us’.
Tim McNally, 60, chair of Piddington Parish Council, has backed a symbolic referendum on the tiny Oxfordshire village leaving the UK
Locals are infuriated by proposals to house 1,250 males at a migrant camp near the tiny Oxfordshire village
‘The fact that this has been allowed to happen continuously, means we are now at a point where it is bursting,’ he said.
‘The whole system is broken, and the politics of this country is broken as no one is representing us. No one is saying we can stop this. That is why we are very despondent about the whole thing.
‘We are paying our money, we are paying taxes, but we aren’t being represented. We are now pushing back. The independence referendum is an example of this.
‘And to now say this is on you, it is coming to your middle-class areas, that is ridiculousness because the cost of living is the cost of living.
‘Just because houses here might be more expensive than other places, the money is earned, people work hard here and they have chosen not to live in a city. We work hard in this village, we are not spoon-fed.’
He said locals are worried about how the government has tried to claim that every individual is security vetted.
‘So we don’t know what is coming,’ he said.
‘The men will be allowed out during the day. We are near HMP Bullingdon but that is locked up. We have absolutely no problem with that whatsoever. Unfortunately, the asylum site is not locked up. What are 1,000 men going to do during the day?’
Melise Witkin, 59, resident of Piddington, said: ‘This is not about being rich or poor, this is about safety. People have worked really hard throughout their lives to live in this village. It is not such a rich or poor village. I just don’t think that is a conversation to be had. This is about safety.
‘We are 356 people in the village with 46 children and 1,250 men turning up is a recipe for disaster. People walk their dogs, children play, I just think it is madness.
Husband and wife Karen and Derek Joy. Karen said villagers feel like they have been ignored and Mr Burnham has ‘finally picked up on us’ after they had made ‘noise for quite some time’
Villagers say that the area is ‘completely inappropriate’, impractical, and unnecessary, and it has taken months to get any sort of response from Labour
Graham Burchell, who has been farming in Piddington since 1970, said: ‘We don’t need the camp, we don’t want it and we would be a far sight better off without it’
‘This is about safety, nothing more. Even for them [the asylum seekers], along that road there is no pavement, there are no street lights. We just have to be realistic.
‘They talk about bringing them out of hotels because it is going to be cheaper. This is going to cost millions.
‘So I feel people have chosen for their children to live here, to have that community and village life and I think that will be ripped away from us. You shouldn’t have to feel unsafe in your own home.
‘For me, this isn’t about politics, it is just about safety and the fact that there are vulnerable people in the village. We don’t have a pub, we don’t have a shop, what are the asylum seekers going to do here.’
Karen Joy, lives in Piddington with her husband Derek. She said Mr Burnham had ‘finally picked up on us’ after they had been ‘making a noise for quite some time’.
‘We feel we have been ignored,’ she said.
‘We are a very small village and there is nothing for the people in the asylum camp to do. Our worry is that they will wander into our village and the security is nil.
‘In response to Andy Burnham’s comments that middle-class areas should be taking in asylum seekers, somebody in the village said this area of Oxfordshire already has more asylum seekers living here than in Andy Burnham’s constituency.
‘We feel scared. That is all I feel, to be honest. We have a very safe and lovely community. We won’t feel safe anymore if they can walk down the road and there is nothing to do. Who knows what is going to happen.’
Graham Burchell, who has been farming in Piddington since 1970, said: ‘I agree that everybody should take their share of asylum seekers but our share has become too much.
‘We already have a prison down here, and when we sit outside in the nice summer air, all we can hear is foul language coming from the prison.
‘And not only do we have that to put up with, but there has also recently been a traveller camp set up and they have ignored all the planning regulations.
Signs in protest of the migrant camp are littered around the quaint village
Melise Witkin, 59, a resident of Piddington, said it wasn’t about ‘being rich or poor, this is about safety’
The tiny Oxfordshire village has a population of just 350 people. The new migrant camp is being proposed at the nearby Bicester barracks
The Grade II-listed St Nicholas Church in the pretty village of Piddington, which dates back to the 13th century
A security guard is pictured at the entrance of the proposed migrant camp
‘Now on top of all of that, we have this [the asylum seekers] which we don’t really need.
‘If I had a daughter, I would have a safety issue with this. And frankly we don’t need all these people coming here. It is costing a fortune in taxpayer money.
‘We don’t need the camp, we don’t want it and we would be a far sight better off without it.’
Mr Burnham was asked on GB News about the planned camp this week. He said: ‘I will listen to what people are saying and respond to the concerns that they are putting forward.
‘I don’t know the issue yet in detail, but in some ways, as I understand it, it is about creating secure space.’
He added: ‘It’s obviously going to be challenging, but I am prepared always to listen to people, to work with people and to pick up legitimate concerns, and I will address those concerns.
‘I do have to say, we cannot have a situation where it’s only the poorest communities in the country that receive all of the dispersal of refugees and asylum seekers. I do believe all parts of the country need to work, to play their part.
‘We understand people’s concerns and I will look into the issues raised by the good people of Piddington.’
An analysis by the Daily Mail has revealed that there are 17 local authorities with no taxpayer-supported asylum seekers.
Asylum seekers who are waiting for a decision on their asylum claim are often eligible for accommodation and money to cover their living expenses. This is provided by the Home Office, and the migrants themselves are dispersed across the country.
Home Office figures showing the number of supported asylum seekers per local authority at the end of March reveal the areas that currently house no migrants are overwhelmingly rural beauty spots. These include the Cotswolds, Derbyshire Dales, Malvern Hills, the New Forest and the Scottish Highlands.
Others include Mid Devon, East Hertfordshire, Ceredigion (a scenic county in west Wales) and Hart, a 118-square-mile local authority taking in major towns, rural parishes and villages in Hampshire.
The Gloucestershire market town of Tewkesbury is also on the list, as are the Isle of Wight, Isles of Scilly, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, Mid and East Antrim and Mid Ulster, and Na h-Eileanan Siar – an island chain off the west coast of Scotland.
