'We will not stop.
asserted
We → stop → ?
We will not accept it.'
asserted
We → accept → it
Those were the defiant words of Tim McNally, chairman of Piddington Parish Council, who accused the Government on Friday of 'deceit, lies and manipulation' after Housing Secretary Angela Rayner approved planning permission for an 'asylum accommodation camp' next to the local playing field.
asserted
Rayner → accuse → field
Two months ago, residents of the Oxfordshire village made international headlines after voting in a symbolic referendum – by 285 to 26 – to declare 'independence' from the UK, such was their anger over the plans announced in June.
asserted
anger → make → June
But the protest vote fell on deaf ears in Westminster.
asserted
vote → fall → Westminster
The Bicester Ministry of Defence site – which has no running water, electricity or working sewage system – is set to house 1,256 male migrants and will be open for at least a decade, at a cost to the taxpayer of around £1.25billion.
asserted
which → have → 1.25billion
Migrants will outnumber locals in this secluded village – population 350 – by four to one, and local women by eight to one.
asserted
Migrants → outnumber → one
In a barnstorming speech outside the Village Hall on Friday, McNally vowed to hold Andy Burnham personally responsible for any crimes – sexual or otherwise – that might be committed by the incoming migrants.
uncertain
that → barnstorm → migrants
'God help you,' McNally continued, addressing the Prime Minister directly.
asserted
McNally → help → Minister
'We will hunt you down...
asserted
We → hunt → you
if any one of our residents is harmed by anyone from that site, I will use the Hillsborough Law to come after you.
asserted
I → harm → you
'
Local residents pose with a 'Principality of Piddington' sign in the Oxfordshire village following the referendum result, on September 16
Chris Philp, Shadow Home Secretary (L) and Zia Yusuf, Reform UK's spokesperson for home affairs, (R) debate with each other as they speak to the media outside Piddington village hall on Friday, while Tim McNally, chairman of Piddington Parish Council, (C) looks on
Under the Public Office Accountability Bill – also known as the Hillsborough Law and currently going through the Lords – officials can be criminally prosecuted for, among other things, misleading the public – and the people of Piddington believe the Labour Government is currently doing exactly that.
asserted
Government → pose → that
'Their own law will be their own demise,' McNally vowed.
asserted
McNally → vow → ?
A furious local woman in her 60s told the Daily Mail: 'They know the risks of placing these young, military-aged men in our village.
asserted
They → tell → village
But they're pressing on regardless.'
Indeed they are.
asserted
they → press → ?
For this deeply unpopular scheme has been fast-tracked, against furious local opposition, by the Home Office, exploiting a loophole in planning law that allows ministers to expedite projects deemed to be of 'national importance', even forgoing Labour's beloved 'environmental assessments'.
asserted
ministers → track → assessments
Campaign group Wrong Plan Wrong Site has since appealed for a judicial review at the High Court, arguing the Government must adhere to environmental regulations.
asserted
Government → appeal → regulations
The case is backed by Cherwell District Council.
asserted
case → back → Council
Parish Council chairman McNally has meanwhile vowed to pursue every other available legal avenue to stop the Government's 'abuse of power'.
asserted
McNally → vow → power
The Home Office said: 'Planning permission allows us to continue to progress the use of MoD Bicester.
asserted
us → say → Bicester
However, a final decision to proceed is yet to be taken.'
asserted
decision → proceed → ?
On Thursday evening, McNally was celebrating his 61st birthday and enjoying a 'meat feast' pizza and bottle of wine at the Aamore Italian restaurant in nearby Thame with his partner, Christina, when he heard the news that Rayner had rubber-stamped the plans.
asserted
Rayner → celebrate → plans
A car passes a sign opposing the Asylum Centre near Piddington, north-west of London, on Friday, where the government plans to accommodate around 1,200 asylum seekers
An aerial view of Piddington, with the MoD Bicester site in the background
He wolfed down his final slice and was live on the TV news by 9pm.
asserted
He → pass → 9
'There will be security and CCTV on site, but not in the village,' he told the Mail.
asserted
he → tell → Mail
Some might even arm themselves, and take those weapons out into the village.
uncertain
Some → arm → village
There are concerns that the site – which will cost about £256million to get up and running – is wholly inappropriate for use as migrant accommodation.
asserted
which → be → accommodation
'The Government has programmed people to believe that this is viable,' McNally said.
asserted
McNally → program → people
They'll have to rely on a generator consuming thousands of litres of fuel a day.
asserted
They → have → fuel
Perhaps the worst fear in the newly seceded 'Principality of Piddington', however, has been the threat of sexual violence, especially in the wake of a string of high-profile rapes and other assaults committed by asylum seekers across the country.
Ministers have repeatedly refused to release data they hold on the number of sexual assaults committed by asylum seekers, despite demands from campaigners and opposition MPs.
asserted
they → secede → campaigners
Many of the members of the 'Women of Piddington' – a separate protest group within the village who were out in force yesterday – have taken up self-defence classes, having previously written to every female MP declaring: 'Our safety, our security and our freedoms will be under threat.'
asserted
safety → take → threat
Victoria Hubbocks, 32, a mother of three boys, told the Mail: 'We're not going to tolerate this.
asserted
We → tell → this
'They should be able to run across the road and see their friends.
asserted
They → run → friends
Now we won't be able to let them out of our sight.'
asserted
we → let → sight
Victoria – a central figure in the Women of Piddington movement – is keeping up morale by hosting regular wine nights.
asserted
Victoria → keep → nights
'We're doing a lot of fundraising, we've been to Westminster, we're still doing self-defence classes,' she says.
asserted
she → do → classes
For the women, perhaps what stings the most is that planning permission has just been granted by Angela Rayner, who promised before Labour took power to 'halve the level of violence against women and girls'.
asserted
Labour → sting → women
Victoria insists: 'Now she's effectively saying women's safety doesn't matter.
asserted
safety → insist → ?
We're being treated like collateral damage.'
asserted
We → treat → damage
Mother-of-two Claire Brenner said: 'I live here.
asserted
I → say → two
I adore this place.'
asserted
I → adore → place
…and 21 more, not listed.
The Aporia
