Piddington declares independence in protest over migrant housing

The village of Piddington, in Oxfordshire, has voted to secede from the United Kingdom in a non-binding referendum called to oppose government plans to house up to 1,200 asylum seekers at a nearby former military base. The vote drew national attention as residents of the village of about 350 people cast 285 ballots in favor of breaking away and 26 against.

The declaration was aimed at plans to convert the former Ministry of Defense Bicester base, about half a mile from the village, into accommodation for male migrants. The government says the site is “designed to be largely self-sufficient to minimize any impact on the local community.”

“We have given an absolute message, not just to the region, not just to the country, but to the world,” said the parish chairman, Tim McNally. He said the district will henceforth be known as “the Principality of Piddington.”

Villager Herbert Owen, 76, said after voting on Tuesday that the independence referendum “isn’t just about Piddington.”

“It means everything our grandparents, our parents fought for. Today is the Battle of Britain,” Owen said.

Some media coverage compared the gesture to the 1949 Ealing comedy film “Passport to Pimlico,” in which a London neighborhood breaks away from Britain. Residents have raised fears about safety, crime and the effect on house prices in the affluent area, 50 miles northwest of London.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham, addressing the vote on Wednesday, acknowledged the depth of local feeling.

“I understand the strength of feeling,” Burnham said. “I will look at the issues being raised by the community and in the referendum, but we have to ensure that we have a fair plan” that spreads the burden of accommodating new arrivals across the country.

The Labour government has pledged to move migrants from hotels and rooming houses into more suitable accommodation. More than 41,000 people crossed the English Channel in inflatable dinghies in 2025, though the number so far this year is down by more than 40% from the same period last year.

Refugee groups said military barracks are not the right place to house asylum seekers.

“For people who have fled war and violence and come to the U.K. to be safe, being accommodated in such remote and unsettling environments only exacerbates their sense of insecurity,” said Jon Featonby, chief policy analyst at the Refugee Council.

“And as we’ve seen from other sites, they’ve undermined social cohesion,” Featonby said.