About 350 residents of a small village in the UK are holding a symbolic referendum on whether they should remain part of the country. The people in Piddington, located in Oxfordshire, England, are conducting the poll after the Labour Party decided to repurpose a military camp at “Site A” near the village to house about 1,256 asylum seekers, all of them male.
The men moving in would mean that the women in Piddington would be outnumbered ten to one by immigrants. Site A is located between Piddington and Upper and Lower Arcott.
The government's decision gained widespread criticism.
The women in the village had penned an open letter to every female MP in the country saying that their “safety, security and freedoms were under threat”.
Melise Witkin, 59, told the Daily Mail, '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.”
'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.” she said
Many female residents expressed fears which prompted the village to introduce private security patrols. Some even joined self-defence classes, the Daily Mail reported.
According to local leaders, the site is unsuited for an influx of people in the number.
The accommodation being prepared consists of temporary mining camp dorms powered by diesel generators. Water and sewage will have to be transported by truck.
The village leaders have also gained the support of the opposition, the Conservative Reform UK party.
The parish council and its residents already held a preparatory vote on July 4, which gained 96 per cent support. They are now moving for the independence referendum. The initiative was made to grab the attention of the Westminster government.
The symbolic referendum also comes amid Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales signing a memorandum of understanding warning that the Westminster authority over the three devolved governments was weakening. All three governments, however, cannot hold a referundum unless it is approved by the UK government. The memorandum helps the three leaders coordinate their demands and put pressure on the Andy Burnham government.
