
More than 1,200 asylum seekers are to be housed on a former Ministry of Defense site, despite opposition from residents and the local MP.
AI-generated summary
Britain's Labor government has promised to rehouse asylum seekers currently housed in hotels and plans to open several reception centers at former military sites. Residents of Piddington demonstrated against the plan and held a symbolic referendum on secession from the United Kingdom in September.
The British government has given its agreement for a Ministry of Defense site to be transformed to house more than 1,200 asylum seekers, near a village whose inhabitants had symbolically “seceded” from the United Kingdom in September to protest against this project.
The Labor government, which has promised to rehouse asylum seekers currently housed in hotels, wants to open several reception centers in former military sites. He announced Thursday evening that he had approved the one near Piddington, a town of 350 inhabitants, near Oxford.
Housing and Communities Minister Angela Rayner “has granted permission for the temporary and phased use of the former Ministry of Defense storage site in Bicester,” a ministry spokesperson said. “As this decision may be subject to legal challenge, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage,” he added. The government wants to house around 1,250 asylum seekers, all single men between 18 and 65, on the former military site.
“It’s absolutely scandalous,” says Conservative MP Greg Smith.
This summer, residents of Piddington demonstrated to oppose the project, saying they were concerned for their safety, particularly that of women. Then in September, the vast majority of them voted in favor of “secession” from the United Kingdom during a symbolic referendum to oppose the installation of a reception center for asylum seekers.
Piddington had become for a few days the media and political epicenter of the debate on immigration and the asylum system in the country. Conservative MP Greg Smith, elected in the region, described the transformation of the site as a “disaster” on X. “It’s absolutely scandalous (...). I will continue to fight to have this decision overturned,” he added.
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
A legal appeal will be filed against the government's decision.
Likely · Within weeks
MP Greg Smith will continue to fight to overturn the decision.
Likely · Within weeks

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