The Prime Minister has said that wealthier parts of the country cannot be exempt from housing asylum seekers, after residents of an Oxfordshire village mounted a campaign against plans to accommodate up to 1,250 people at a neighbouring military site.
Andy Burnham, speaking in his first interview with GB News since entering Downing Street, was asked about opposition in Piddington to the Home Office proposal for MoD Bicester. According to the Press Association, he said he was prepared to listen to residents but would not accept a system in which deprived areas absorbed the burden alone.
"We cannot have a situation where it's only the poorest communities in the country that receive all of the dispersal of refugees and asylum seekers. I do believe all parts of the country need to work, to play their part."
He added: "It's obviously going to be challenging, but I am prepared always to listen to people, to work with people, and to pick up legitimate concerns, and I will address those concerns." He said he would "look into the issues raised by the good people of the Piddington", and told the broadcaster he had "begun to become aware of the campaign".
No new policy, funding arrangement or allocation mechanism was announced in the interview. Asylum dispersal has been formally voluntary for local authorities since 2018, and Downing Street has not yet clarified whether the Prime Minister's remarks imply any change to that arrangement.
The comments follow a summer of protest around former military bases earmarked for asylum accommodation. Home Office minister Alex Norris told the Commons on 25 June that three ex-military sites were under consideration — Barnham in Suffolk, Bicester in Oxfordshire and Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire — which "could eventually provide accommodation for around 3,750 asylum seekers, subject to feasibility assessments, planning permission and the necessary approvals".
Piddington, a village of roughly 370 people, held a symbolic ballot on 4 July on pursuing "independence", which passed by 178 votes to seven. Residents object to the prospect of 1,250 single adult men aged 18 to 65 being housed at the adjacent garrison site. Parish council chairman Tim McNally has said residents feel they are "taking a hit on behalf of the United Kingdom". Local resident Jamie Perkin told LBC: "It's a huge amount to just dump on one village. And this is the wrong place for 1,250 men to be living. These guys need a fair chance in life, but there is quite literally nothing here for them."
Calum Miller, the Liberal Democrat MP for Bicester and Woodstock, has said the plans could see more than three times Piddington's population housed at the facility. Cherwell District Council has complained it was notified only hours before the announcement was made public, a claim disputed by Labour's Banbury MP Sean Woodcock, who said the authority "was included in the engagement plan" and that no final decisions had been taken.
At Barnham, opposition has been more volatile. Norfolk Police recorded three nights of disorder in nearby Thetford between 4 and 6 August, with officers reporting they were "subjected to significant aggression"; one was struck with a rock, another bitten and a third spat at. Several arrests were made, though totals vary between accounts. A further protest outside the former RAF site on Sunday passed peacefully.
Mr Burnham also declined to set a date for ending Channel crossings, saying it would be "wrong… to make a prediction now based on a timeline", and promised to "change our tactics" after a record 230 people crossed in a single boat in the early hours of Monday.
The Prime Minister pressed similar arguments as mayor of Greater Manchester in 2018, when he warned of "catastrophic failure" in the dispersal system. The then Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, promised a "more equitable distribution" — but said it depended on more councils volunteering.
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