A quaint village in Oxfordshire has staged a referendum where they have voted to leave the United Kingdom - over concerns about a nearby military site being used to house asylum seekers.
The Home Office is considering using the Bicester barracks to house 1,250 people, but this has been met with fierce opposition from the 350 local residents of Piddington.
In response, Andy Burnham said on Tuesday that wealthy areas of Britain “must play their part”, and that the country “cannot have a situation where it’s only the poorest communities in the country” housing asylum seekers.
He added that he would take a look at the situation, and said he was “prepared always to listen to people, to work with people and to pick up legitimate concerns”.
Speaking to the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, Tim McNally, the chair of Piddington council said he was “pleased” that Mr Burnham had addressed the situation and was prepared to help him “find a way forward”.
Asked about the government’s response that middle-class communities needed to play their part, he said: “I fully support that and understand that. What Piddington is asking for is not to be exempt from the national responsibility.
“We know this country has a massive problem. The real issue here is about the scale, location and process.
“It’s not about the humanity of those being accommodated. Just because we are, as you may say, an affluent area it doesn’t mean high capacity.”
He added that the village had been given no information about how the Home Office intends to manage the 1,250 asylum seekers in an open environment.
Home Office minister Anna Turley said they would be “contained” on the “self-contained” site in Piddington but clarified those being housed would be allowed out.
Ms Turley told LBC radio: “They’re not going to be in the village, they’re going to be contained in a former military base, they will be allowed out, everything they need will be on that site.”
She added: “We are looking at former military bases around the country, we’re also looking at former industrial sites, student accommodation, other means by which we can put people in secure places that is contained and is manageable – going back to the beginning of our conversation – is more affordable than putting people in hotels.”
She said the government will “redouble” its efforts to clamp down on illegal boats crossing the English Channel carrying migrants.
Asylum seekers have been housed at various sites throughout the country, including at former military sites in rural areas such as at Wethersfield in Essex and Crowborough in East Sussex.
The government has plans for more housing at former military sites, subject to planning permission and approvals.
The Home Office is assessing whether Barnham Camp in Suffolk could be used to accommodate men aged between 18 and 65.
Protesters last weekend gathered outside the former RAF base and unrest has broken out in nearby Thetford, Norfolk, where people are thought to have tried to storm homes linked to asylum seekers.
Elsewhere in the country, hotels have been used to house asylum seekers, but the Government has committed to ending their use.
Hotels which asylum seekers have vacated include the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, the Delta Hotel Cheshunt in Hertfordshire, Best Western Stoke in Staffordshire, and the Wool Merchant Hotel in Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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