Village to hold referendum to leave UK over plan to move refugees into RAF base
VILLAGERS will hold a Piddington-style poll over plans to move nearly 1,000 asylum seekers to a nearby RAF base.
TL;DR
- Barnham, Suffolk, with 611 residents, is planning a symbolic independence ballot.
- The vote is in opposition to Home Office plans to house 930 migrants at RAF Barnham.
- This action is inspired by Piddington, Oxfordshire, which held a similar referendum.
- The ballot will have no legal standing.
- A working group will meet to set the timeline for the vote.
- Mr Bauer believes a symbolic declaration of secession would show village sentiment and send a message to Westminster.
- He suggests Barnham's vote could show Piddington's was not isolated and could be the start of a movement.
- The RAF base currently has 320 beds, and public money is being spent on surveys and renovations.
- No final decision has been made, but the Home Office hopes to move asylum seekers in before Christmas.