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The village that voted to leave Britain
A 358-person Oxfordshire village is holding its own independence referendum rather than accept 1,250 asylum seekers next door.
In brief
A 358-person Oxfordshire village is holding its own independence referendum rather than accept 1,250 asylum seekers next door. Piddington shows that the most awkward opposition for a government to handle is the kind it cannot caricature: polite, organised, mostly female, and very good at publicity. Originally reported…
No balaclavas here
The Home Office would find this easier if the protesters wore black hoodies. Instead they turn up in jumpers, gilets and jeans, with not a single face covering in the room.
“In short, though not in shorts, they are in country casual.”
Farmers, not far right
The crowd includes farmers, accountants, engineers, builders and public servants. At the last elections they returned a Lib Dem MP and three Lib Dem councillors.
A village of 358
Piddington is a small Oxfordshire village that has been told it will soon host more than 1,250 asylum seekers in a former Ministry of Defence site on its edge.
Free to come and go
The arrivals are described as young, single, undocumented men who can leave the site whenever they like. There are no shops or cafes in the village and almost no buses.
The question on the ballot
Parish council chairman Tim McNally reads it out at the meeting: should Piddington secede from the UK and pursue self-determination, becoming a principality like Monaco?
“Yes or No: I support Piddington seeking to secede from the United Kingdom and pursuing self-determination”
A show of hands
Asked in the village hall who intends to vote yes, the room goes up as one. Every hand in the room, the bulk of the electorate, is in favour.
Formal but not binding
The referendum runs under strict electoral protocols with numbered papers and a secret ballot. The Government has not authorised it, so the result carries no legal force.
Told it was illegal
A council electoral services department denied ringing the village, then said the vote broke the law. McNally was told they may only vote on things like the colour of the church gates.
“We are only allowed to hold a vote on things like what colour to paint the church gates.”
Passport to Piddington
The Mail first compared it to the 1949 Ealing comedy Passport To Pimlico, where Londoners find a treaty proving they are Burgundian and so exempt from British rations and taxes.
It did not blow over
Officials treated the story as silly season anger that would fade. Instead TV networks from America to Australia turned up, and Elon Musk voiced support.
A letter to every female MP
The 133-strong Women of Piddington asked the parliamentary sisterhood for solidarity. Their video message passed two million views without any promotion.
“They would outnumber us ten to one. As fellow women, you will understand the serious risks.”
Twenty-six to one
An earlier blueprint suggested 3,500 asylum seekers at the site, which would outnumber the village 26 to one. Officials now deny that is the plan.
Self-defence sells out
When Samantha Phillips offers a female self-defence course at the meeting, all 26 places go within minutes.
Independence Day timing
McNally staged the first vote, on whether to hold a referendum at all, on July 4. A CCTV-monitored polling booth went up in the village hall and the yes vote was overwhelming.
“The USA was celebrating 250 years of independence on the same day and we thought we'd model ourselves on them.”
Battle of Britain Day
September 15 was picked to land before Thursday's consultation deadline. A presenter pointed out it is also the Battle of Britain anniversary, which nobody had noticed.
“So we are now calling ourselves "Ground Zero for the Battle of Britain".”
A Spitfire and a song
A supporter has offered a Spitfire flypast, weather permitting. Engineer James Burton has made a TikTok video for the village song, aimed squarely at 16 to 24-year-olds.
“Everyone in this hall is of a certain age, let's face it.”
Batwoman's injunction
Farmer Joy Haw-Cook surveyed the site for bats and found one on the Red List of Britain's rarest mammals. Breeding season protections could freeze the site until May.
“A judge could put an injunction on the site until May.”
A mother's calculation
Krissy Honour's 13-year-old daughter keeps sheep on a smallholding right beside the MoD site. She says she will not let her go out to tend them.
“We are giving all our freedoms to people who have simply broken into the country and we feel unsafe.”
The legal track
A wider Bicester group, Wrong Plan. Wrong Site, is seeking judicial review of the Home Office decision. The local MP backs that campaign but will not say how he would vote.
“I have challenged the Prime Minister to live up to his pledge to give agency and control back to local areas.”
The leaflet that says it all
What unsettles the women most is not asylum policy but the fact that the Government now issues arrivals with leaflets explaining that rape is illegal.
The key point
Piddington shows that the most awkward opposition for a government to handle is the kind it cannot caricature: polite, organised, mostly female, and very good at publicity.
