Oxfordshire village holds mock secession vote over asylum centre plan

Residents of Piddington, a small and isolated village in Oxfordshire, have staged a symbolic “referendum” to gauge support for leaving the United Kingdom. The vote, organised by a local community group, was prompted by plans announced by the Home Office to convert a nearby disused military base into an asylum reception centre. With fewer than a hundred households in the hamlet, the residents used a makeshift polling station in the village hall to record their stance, reporting a majority in favour of secession as a protest against the proposed development.

Local authorities have confirmed that the proposal for the reception centre is part of a wider government initiative to repurpose former defence sites for processing asylum seekers, and that the project remains subject to planning permission and statutory consultations. The council has urged residents to engage through formal channels, while the Home Office has reiterated that any decision will be based on national policy and legal requirements. The Piddington referendum, though unofficial, highlights the tension between rural communities and national immigration strategies, and the outcome is expected to be cited by both the village’s representatives and policymakers in forthcoming discussions.