Barnham villagers push UK exit vote over asylum base plans

Barnham in Suffolk is set to press ahead with a symbolic referendum on leaving the UK after villagers backed the idea in protest at plans to house asylum seekers at the former RAF site MoD Barnham.

A meeting at Barnham’s village hall on Saturday saw only seven of the 80 people present vote against holding the poll, and a group will meet on Monday to fix the timeline, according to reports carried by the BBC and covered by The Independent. The village of around 600 people is following the path taken by Piddington in Oxfordshire, where opposition to migrants at Ministry of Defence Bicester produced an overwhelming unofficial leave result in September.

Parish council chair John Bauer, who supports the move, put the case in plain terms: “Residents voted decisively in favour of holding a referendum as a means to demonstrate the strength of feeling in the village at the government’s failure to consult anyone about a matter which will change the nature of the village. This democratic action stands in dramatic contrast to the high-handed approach the government is taking.”

That is the heart of it. Whitehall can park people on a military site next to a small community and call it policy, then act surprised when locals demand a ballot to show how little say they were given. Britain cannot run itself if villages only hear about life-changing decisions after the plan is already rolling.

The Ministry of Defence says asylum seekers would normally be held at such a site only during the initial processing stage of their claims. In August, dozens gathered outside the former RAF base between Barnham and Thetford in Norfolk to oppose the use of the site. Union and St George’s flags were flown and placards read “Barnham says no. Protect our community.”

Tensions had already risen in Thetford that month when people tried to storm homes linked to asylum seekers and police faced three nights of unrest. Norfolk officers reported significant aggression: one was hit with a rock, one was bitten and another spat at.

Piddington set the pattern

In Piddington, 285 villagers backed “independence” on a turnout of nearly 92 per cent. Twenty-six voted against and one ballot was spoiled. The place styled itself the “Principality of Piddington.” The vote carried no legal force, yet it left no doubt about local feeling when MoD land is turned into migrant accommodation without consent.

Home Office minister Anna Turley has defended housing asylum seekers on former military bases in the countryside, calling the sites self-contained, more manageable and cheaper than hotels. She told LBC it was “fairness,” arguing poorer areas with lower property prices had already taken their “fair share,” and that people would be contained on site with what they need provided there, while still being allowed out. She said the government is also looking at former industrial sites and student accommodation.

A Home Office spokesperson later said: “We recognise the strength of feeling in local communities and are listening carefully to the concerns being raised.” Listening after the flags are out and the village hall has already voted is not the same as asking first. Barnham’s next step is the Monday meeting on timing. The referendum will be symbolic, like Piddington’s, but the message is already clear: small places will not stay quiet while asylum policy is dropped on their doorstep without a proper say.

Original source: The Independent

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