UK Village Considers Independence Referendum Amid Asylum Seeker Plans

Residents of Barnham, a small village in Suffolk, are considering holding their own referendum on whether to secede from the UK, mirroring a recent symbolic vote by the Oxfordshire village of Piddington. The move comes in response to plans to house approximately 1,250 asylum seekers at a nearby military base, a development that locals fear will more than double the village's population.

Parish council chairman John Bauer stated that a group of villagers would travel to Piddington to discuss the strategy, which aims to draw public attention to their concerns. "They don’t care about the people of Barnham," Bauer said, expressing worry about the potential impact on the community, which comprises about 580 residents including children and women.

Piddington held an advisory referendum last week regarding Home Office plans for MoD Bicester, with 90 percent of residents voting to leave the UK. While the vote has no legal standing, it successfully garnered national attention. Barnham residents are hoping a similar tactic will amplify their opposition to the plans, which are intended to reduce the number of migrants housed in hotels.

The Barnham military base, which has been earmarked for asylum seekers, lacks sufficient amenities such as shops or pubs to accommodate the influx, according to residents. The village currently has a hall, church, and primary school.

Protests have occurred at RAF Barnham since the plans, along with those for Bicester and Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire, were announced in June. Tensions have been heightened by leaked information suggesting that more migrants could be housed at the facilities than initially stated. Separately, violent disturbances were reported in Thetford, Norfolk, after it emerged that the Home Office was considering quadrupling the number of asylum seekers in private accommodation.

Barnham residents met on Wednesday last week, the day after Piddington's vote, to discuss their resistance. While the focus has included planning issues such as potential contamination of the former military site, which was used for storing nuclear and chemical weapons, and its status as a nesting ground for endangered stone curlews, some now believe a more prominent approach is necessary. The Home Office is expected to announce its final decision this autumn, with asylum seekers potentially moving in before Christmas.

Some residents, like Collette Skelly, 58, believe the referendum is a valuable tool for publicity. "At the moment, there is nothing on the news about Barnham," she noted. Others expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of a non-binding vote, with James Hollins stating, "The referendum is rubbish, it can’t go anywhere, it’s got no legal standing."

Adrian Whittle, leader of Reform UK at West Suffolk Council, voiced support for the village's right to hold a referendum, seeing it as a way to "raise the profile that people haven’t just given up."