Principality of Piddington

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It’s exactly the same narrative going on here, TheatreLover.

For over three years the asylum seekers who have been accommodated in former MOD barracks have not been a major issue. Crime rates are very low - much lower than Piddington, in fact.

In May, Reform took control of the county council and suddenly it becomes a big issue needing the employment of private security guards to patrol the streets. The police say it isn’t necessary. Local town and city council leaders say it isn’t necessary. The people say it isn’t necessary. The only people saying it is necessary are Reform based on no evidence whatsoever.

Here’s Rachel talking to James O’Brien.

x.com/LBC/status/2100197047051636892

Maizie Anyway, looking at the Piddington demographics it doesn't seem very likely that they'd find 'girlfriends' there.

Not unless their Tinder profile says: Seeking a woman 75-80 for matt bowls, whist drives, ballroom dancing and a maybe a sherry in the pop up pub every fourth Friday.

Apologies, but these people are making themselves look ridiculous with their silly UDI.

I wonder how they coped 20 years ago when there were 2,600 personnel at MOD Bicester, 1,100 military staff and 1,500 civilians.

I suspect some of those wanted a girlfriend too.

In other news, I see Reform’s latest Head of Policy, Amar Johal says fixing UK borders will take a full five years term - not 100 days as Farage claims.

Bets on whether he will last longer than Zia Yusuf or James Orr now he's handed Labour a ready riposte next time Farage pops up in the House of Commons to complain about boats.

Having military personnel there is a totally different thing.
Totally different to having a thousand men from different countries with different cultures I would imagine.

MT62

That’s my point MAD, they will want a girlfriend so won’t be sitting around in Military army barracks if you read my post properly.
It’s up the the young girls if they want to court these young men, or not.

The entire cohort of asylum seekers being housed in the barracks will not be wanting to find a girlfriend. And it looks as though they're highly unlikely to find one in Piddington.

I think you're a bit obsessed with this...

That’s my point MAD, they will want a girlfriend so won’t be sitting around in Military army barracks if you read my post properly.
It’s up the the young girls if they want to court these young men, or not.

Some people prefer to ignore or forget history

I’ve come to conclusion that it’s a totally pointless “debate”, as never the Twain shall meet.

I will just point out though, that there are often extremely good reasons migrants (not just men), might no longer have their “paperwork” “ID”, sometimes, within their own countries, passports etc have been taken off citizens, not because they’re terrible criminals, but because those governments don’t want people leaving, some are genuinely lost, some are deliberately destroyed and some never had any.

Having ID or a document doesn’t prove whether you’re a genuine Asylum Seeker nor whether you’ve committed crimes in your country of origin.

I remember, historically, why certain groups “hid their identity” and/or paperwork, and why.

It’s exactly the same narrative going on here, TheatreLover.

For over three years the asylum seekers who have been accommodated in former MOD barracks have not been a major issue. Crime rates are very low - much lower than Piddington, in fact.

In May, Reform took control of the county council and suddenly it becomes a big issue needing the employment of private security guards to patrol the streets. The police say it isn’t necessary. Local town and city council leaders say it isn’t necessary. The people say it isn’t necessary. The only people saying it is necessary are Reform based on no evidence whatsoever.

Here’s Rachel talking to James O’Brien.

x.com/LBC/status/2100197047051636892

Maizie Anyway, looking at the Piddington demographics it doesn't seem very likely that they'd find 'girlfriends' there.

Not unless their Tinder profile says: Seeking a woman 75-80 for matt bowls, whist drives, ballroom dancing and a maybe a sherry in the pop up pub every fourth Friday.

Apologies, but these people are making themselves look ridiculous with their silly UDI.

I wonder how they coped 20 years ago when there were 2,600 personnel at MOD Bicester, 1,100 military staff and 1,500 civilians.

I suspect some of those wanted a girlfriend too.

In other news, I see Reform’s latest Head of Policy, Amar Johal says fixing UK borders will take a full five years term - not 100 days as Farage claims.

Bets on whether he will last longer than Zia Yusuf or James Orr now he's handed Labour a ready riposte next time Farage pops up in the House of Commons to complain about boats.

I'd like to point out that some of these men are undocumented we know nothing about them, if they have criminal records etc. I think it's disgraceful that they are just allowed to roam whether they like and yes I agree with a previous poster some people are very naive, also someone mentioned had the soldiers who were in the camp before caused problems well that in my mind is deflection whether they did or not is not the point they were our soldiers not undocumented men we know nothing about.

Plevey08
True, we don’t have access the the “eu” database but we do share intelligence with Interpol and eu nations.

This happens with the posters who say the UK could return immigrants pre Brexit when in fact very few were apparently returned.

Perhaps very few were returned is because, as has been pointed out, pre Brexit there were very few coming in to start with...

MazieD Many of them, according to research, have wives or partners and children back home.

Others might actually be so traumatised by the events in their home countries, perhaps girlfriends are the last things on their mind.

I know, and acknowledge, that groups of any young men, irrespective of their nationality, are likely to “catcall”, “whistle” and generally discuss attractive young women. This is pretty normal.

MT62

Fallingstar

It is a familiar racist trope that men from a group singled out for racist views are more inclined to rape and sexually abuse white girls/women. Before the civil rights movement in America black men were believed to be predisposed to rape and sexually abuse white girls/women.
And of course some men from other races/religions do rape and sexually abuse girls/women, but as with white men, they are in the minority but their cases are widely publicised and made to sound like the norm. They are said to be less civilised, not like us, not sharing our values, unable to respect women in the same way. As if our superiority is a given despite our jails being full of our own homegrown male rapists and abusers who somehow missed the memo about being more civilised etc.
Whenever I have been out late at night and I haven’t been out late for a very long time, but I can recall feeling scared and clutching my keys in my hand as a weapon, when hearing footfalls behind me, and turning to see a man following closely behind. I never checked to see if that man was a different t race, he was a man, and as all women know, any man is capable of rape etc.
Statistics show that most rapes and sexual offences are committed by men known to the victim, a much smaller number are committed by strangers.

Well I for one haven’t even suggested that that these men are going to go on a sexual rampage.
But I do expect they will want a girlfriend. Why else are the NHS handing out free condoms (if that is true).

If you don't think that 'these men are going to go on a sexual rampage' what is wrong with them wanting girlfriends? It is a natural tendency among young people.

Is this some sort of post Empire Memsahib belief that nice white Englishwomen shouldn't have anything to do with 'natives'?

Anyway, looking at the Piddington demographics it doesn't seem very likely that they'd find 'girlfriends' there.

TheatreLover

A woman, Rachel, who has lived in Piddington for 20 years, was interviewed on News Night on Tuesday, and LBC yesterday. She is married to an Afro-Caribbean man, has two mixed race children, and her family has never received any racism during that time.

Rachel said that the direction of the campaign had become increasingly engaged with far right figures and rhetoric. It seems that one of the organisers of the campaign had approached Elon Musk and Donald Trump for help. Rachel initially thought this was a joke, but it became apparent that the campaigner had indeed approached Musk and Trump.

Rachel said that representatives of Reform had made their presence known in Piddington, and who, in Rachel's opinion, were using the village to further their own gains.

Unfortunately, this has led on to far right figures, such as Danny (Tommo) Thomas, to feel that they are welcome in Piddington, and also surrounding villages, where anti-immigration fears seem to be much focus of attention at the moment.

What Rachel said in her interviews seemed to be authentic and, if so, it would appear that Piddington's campaign was not, as claimed, apolitical.

I find this shocking, but not at all surprising.

The people of Piddington did/do have legitimate concerns, but they are very naive if they don’t see how they’ve be “played” or “used” by Farage and his ilk.

Btw, Meandrogrog

The posts of mine, and many others, are actually focused on reality, facts, evidence and proof and are to show the “other” side of a story which some on here, and in “real life”, describe as an army or evasion of young men, here to somehow, in many ways, do us all harm.

If that’s not slanted, then I’m a monkeys auntie!

Some people both on here and in “real life”, are so vitriolic in their approach to both regular and irregular migration, and vocal and in some cases actively aggressive towards people of different faiths/colours/cultures, it actually makes me truly wonder if said people have actually ever met a person who is a Muslim, or who might have come here from Ukraine, or Syria.

They are people, like or not, just the same as us, except they’ve had some really awful and vile things happening in their home countries.

Some of those people, a small proportion, are nasty vile people who will have no issue committing awful crimes, just exactly the same as the people already living in our country.

It’s a very simplistic way of putting it, but there are “good” and “bad” people in every nation, every faith, every colour.

I’ve never once denied some who come into country, by both regular and irregular means, are not all people we would welcome.

I’ve always acknowledged that so many coming here in short timescales is problematic, I’ve attempted always to be balanced and fair, not something that everyone chooses to do.

The facts are that there are recent wars across our world, which have resulted in 300,000 people losing their homes.

These people need to go somewhere safe, and these situations are not helped by leaders like Trump, Netanyahu, Putin, etc.

I don’t have the answers, but I don’t agree my posts are slanted, certainly not deliberately so.

A woman, Rachel, who has lived in Piddington for 20 years, was interviewed on News Night on Tuesday, and LBC yesterday. She is married to an Afro-Caribbean man, has two mixed race children, and her family has never received any racism during that time.

Rachel said that the direction of the campaign had become increasingly engaged with far right figures and rhetoric. It seems that one of the organisers of the campaign had approached Elon Musk and Donald Trump for help. Rachel initially thought this was a joke, but it became apparent that the campaigner had indeed approached Musk and Trump.

Rachel said that representatives of Reform had made their presence known in Piddington, and who, in Rachel's opinion, were using the village to further their own gains.

Unfortunately, this has led on to far right figures, such as Danny (Tommo) Thomas, to feel that they are welcome in Piddington, and also surrounding villages, where anti-immigration fears seem to be much focus of attention at the moment.

What Rachel said in her interviews seemed to be authentic and, if so, it would appear that Piddington's campaign was not, as claimed, apolitical.

AI tells me;

Most people arriving in England via small boat crossings are adult men, making up about 72% of total arrivals according to the House of Commons Library.

Almost all individuals arriving through this unauthorized route immediately apply for asylum.

Age and Sex

Breakdown

Adult men (aged 18 and over): Account for roughly 72% of all detected arrivals.

Children (aged under 18): Account for about 15% of arrivals.

Adult women (aged 18 and over): Make up the remaining 13% of arrivals.

These proportions have remained stable since tracking began in 2018, largely because the sea journey is dangerous, leading families to send adult males first before using safer reunification routes.

Top Nationalities

Recent Home Office data compiled via GOV.UK shows that arrivals come from countries experiencing conflict, political instability, or human rights abuses.

The top countries of origin include:

Eritrea: Accounting for about 16% of recent arrivals.

Sudan: Accounting for about 15% of recent arrivals.

Somalia: Accounting for about 15% of recent arrivals.

Afghanistan: Accounting for about 13% of recent arrivals.

Iran: Accounting for about 7% of recent arrivals.

Research DC by NGOs and data on subsequent visa applications provide clear indicators that a significant proportion have wives and children left behind.

The context surrounding these families is reflected in the following data:

1. Family Reunion Data
The strongest evidence that these men have families comes from the Refugee Council and Home Office family visa data.

Once adult men are granted refugee status, they frequently apply for Refugee Family Reunion visas to bring their dependents over safely.

90% of family reunion visas are granted to women and children.

It’s as some of us have explained so many times before, the vast majority of those arriving via irregular means are, in fact, genuine asylum seekers, with many of the men actually having wives and families back home.

I am not disputing that there have been some horrific and vile crimes committed by a small proportion of these arriving irregularly. Even 1 attack, is 1 too many.

But to raise the level of fear, disquiet, anxiety that some groups actually have in this country is utterly deplorable! (In my humble opinion)

I wonder if there were an incidents with over 1,000 squaddies in residence, there certainly have been in other areas with large numbers of servicemen and women stationed locally.

Interestingly on the BBC news yesterday evening a family in Piddington was interviewed who felt extremely strongly about the threat of the migrant camp.

The grown up daughter was all in favour of them moving , yet I thought where would they go?
Nowhere in the country is safe from this influx, as the government has made it perfectly clear that they are going to be spread out everywhere.

I imagine Piddington is an extreme example though with the huge contrast in the population size and the number of migrants earmarked.

“Meandrogrog“

I live in Essex, this story was extremely detailed and published in our local area.

Whilst not “deliberate” in terms of “murdering” them, it was avoidable (I fully expect some of you to state it was the fault of those dying, as they chose to be smuggled in);

The Discovery and the VictimsThe Scene: Emergency services were called to the Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, Essex, at around 1:40 AM. The driver, Maurice Robinson, had collected the container from the port of Purfleet-on-Thames and pulled over to open the doors, discovering the bodies inside.

Due to the scale of the crime scene and to preserve the victims' dignity, the entire lorry was towed under police escort to BBC News' report on Tilbury Docks.

The Victims: The victims consisted of 28 men, eight women, and three teenage boys (including two 15-year-olds), all of whom were Vietnamese nationals.

Many hailed from the impoverished Nghệ An and Hà Tĩnh provinces.

Cause of Death: They died from suffocation (asphyxia) and overheating (hypothermia).

The airtight container had been shipped from the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium.

Temperatures inside the sealed unit reached an excruciating 40°C (104°F) as oxygen levels depleted over a 12-hour journey.

Forensic evidence showed desperate, unsuccessful attempts to break through the roof using a metal post.

The Smuggling Ring and Trial

The migrants had paid a human-trafficking syndicate upwards of £10,000 to £13,000 each for what was advertised as a "VIP" entry into the UK.

An international police investigation quickly dismantled the sophisticated Irish-Romanian organized crime gang responsible.

The ringleaders and drivers were prosecuted at the Old Bailey and received significant sentences:

Nica (co-conspirator/organizer) was jailed for 27 years.
Ronan Hughes (smuggling ringleader) was jailed for 20 years.
Eamonn Harrison (the lorry driver who delivered the container to Zeebrugge) was sentenced to 18 years.
Maurice Robinson (the driver who opened the container in Essex) was sentenced to 13 years and four months.
Marius Draghici (another key coordinator arrested later in Romania) was sentenced in 2023 to 12 years and seven months.

A horrific way to die.

Fallingstar

It is a familiar racist trope that men from a group singled out for racist views are more inclined to rape and sexually abuse white girls/women. Before the civil rights movement in America black men were believed to be predisposed to rape and sexually abuse white girls/women.
And of course some men from other races/religions do rape and sexually abuse girls/women, but as with white men, they are in the minority but their cases are widely publicised and made to sound like the norm. They are said to be less civilised, not like us, not sharing our values, unable to respect women in the same way. As if our superiority is a given despite our jails being full of our own homegrown male rapists and abusers who somehow missed the memo about being more civilised etc.
Whenever I have been out late at night and I haven’t been out late for a very long time, but I can recall feeling scared and clutching my keys in my hand as a weapon, when hearing footfalls behind me, and turning to see a man following closely behind. I never checked to see if that man was a different t race, he was a man, and as all women know, any man is capable of rape etc.
Statistics show that most rapes and sexual offences are committed by men known to the victim, a much smaller number are committed by strangers.

Well I for one haven’t even suggested that that these men are going to go on a sexual rampage.
But I do expect they will want a girlfriend. Why else are the NHS handing out free condoms (if that is true).

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Are you calling me naive, MT62?

I call it realism based on my own real experience and that of my friends, living in an area where asylum seekers are housed at a former military base. The occupancy size is very similar to that proposed for Piddington.

The men cause very little trouble. I don’t live as close to the site as that proposed for Piddington but I have friends who do live in very close proximity and they haven’t experience any local problems.

The men have sports facilities and other activities to keep them busy within the complex. In fact, the new leader of the now Reform-controlled council is very cross about it; says it’s like a holiday camp. He seems to think they should be locked up and fed bread and water. But then he’s Farage’s man from Farage’s constituency doing and saying whatever he is told to do and say.)

The men are taken by mini-bus into local towns and cities to spend the day where they cause little trouble either. Police confirm this.

As of March 2026, police recorded only 15 crimes involving people from the site since it opened in July 2023. Most cases involved minor issues like criminal damage and one report of public urination. 15 crimes in almost three years.

By contrast, Piddington has 33 recorded crimes per year. Most incidents are concentrated around a single location.

That doesn’t suggest burglary of individual properties. Perhaps the single location is the village hall or the local recreation ground on the Arncott Road; maybe anti-social behaviour and vandalism. Who is responsible for those 33 crimes? It isn’t asylum seekers from MOD Bicester.

I don’t know the exact demographic of Piddington to respond to MT62's claims about men seeking women.

The Telegraph reported, there are 268 adults and 46 children which is 314. That doesn’t suggest many young families. Nor, as said before, do the activities on offer at the village hall: matt bowls, whist drives and ballroom dancing. It suggests an elderly population.

BBC reported 312 “referendum” votes cast - 285 voted to leave, 26 voted no, and one ballot paper was spoiled.

If the Telegraph is correct then children voted - which is worrying. I shall bear that in mind next time Reform complain to the police about family voting.

Information about the local site. There is 24/7 on-site security, CCTV, intake biometric checks, and local safeguarding procedures.
.
Yes, asylum seekers do disappear but the data from the intake biometric tests is passed to immigration, policing, and criminality databases. Any subsequent brushes with the law should pick them up.

Yes I am calling you naive Graphite.
I think you think because they have all these sport facilities, that’s going to keep them occupied & happy.
They are mainly young men for heavens sake.
They are going to be seeking out young woman to chat up surely!
I think it’s naive to think otherwise, that it’s not going to happen.
It would be the same in the case of any young adult males.

Cossy

Fancythat you are right, I don’t think anyone is naive on this thread.

There are those who are anti-immigration completely.

Those who’ll welcome those coming in via regular means.

Those who feel international Asylum Law, national Asylum Law and Maritime Law should be respected and worked within.

With these differing opinions and the things I mentioned in my most recent post, of course we are all going to disagree, and that’s ok.

Btw, Brexit did, in fact, literally cause the “channel crossing” issues. Prior to late 2018, there were virtually zero AS arriving this way. They tended to arrive, not in the back of lorries, in much smaller numbers, and fake passports.

I’ll never ever forgot the group abandoned to die in the back of a small lorry in Essex. It was horrific.

The Essex group may have been what I read about, where the refrigeration unit had been turned off. I assume no one realised the illegal immigrants were there?

Your post very much reads that it was deliberate! I do find that a lot of posts, not just by yourself, slant the contents somewhat so the whole facts are not made clear.

This happens with the posters who say the UK could return immigrants pre Brexit when in fact very few were apparently returned.

Are you calling me naive, MT62?

I call it realism based on my own real experience and that of my friends, living in an area where asylum seekers are housed at a former military base. The occupancy size is very similar to that proposed for Piddington.

The men cause very little trouble. I don’t live as close to the site as that proposed for Piddington but I have friends who do live in very close proximity and they haven’t experience any local problems.

The men have sports facilities and other activities to keep them busy within the complex. In fact, the new leader of the now Reform-controlled council is very cross about it; says it’s like a holiday camp. He seems to think they should be locked up and fed bread and water. But then he’s Farage’s man from Farage’s constituency doing and saying whatever he is told to do and say.)

The men are taken by mini-bus into local towns and cities to spend the day where they cause little trouble either. Police confirm this.

As of March 2026, police recorded only 15 crimes involving people from the site since it opened in July 2023. Most cases involved minor issues like criminal damage and one report of public urination. 15 crimes in almost three years.

By contrast, Piddington has 33 recorded crimes per year. Most incidents are concentrated around a single location.

That doesn’t suggest burglary of individual properties. Perhaps the single location is the village hall or the local recreation ground on the Arncott Road; maybe anti-social behaviour and vandalism. Who is responsible for those 33 crimes? It isn’t asylum seekers from MOD Bicester.

I don’t know the exact demographic of Piddington to respond to MT62's claims about men seeking women.

The Telegraph reported, there are 268 adults and 46 children which is 314. That doesn’t suggest many young families. Nor, as said before, do the activities on offer at the village hall: matt bowls, whist drives and ballroom dancing. It suggests an elderly population.

BBC reported 312 “referendum” votes cast - 285 voted to leave, 26 voted no, and one ballot paper was spoiled.

If the Telegraph is correct then children voted - which is worrying. I shall bear that in mind next time Reform complain to the police about family voting.

Information about the local site. There is 24/7 on-site security, CCTV, intake biometric checks, and local safeguarding procedures.
.
Yes, asylum seekers do disappear but the data from the intake biometric tests is passed to immigration, policing, and criminality databases. Any subsequent brushes with the law should pick them up.

JenniRen

"With the military still active on the site, it will be secure. Asylum seekers are not detained but they are still supervised. They will be bussed into nearby towns and cities during the day as they are from other military sites which are used for the same purpose."

Should these people be allowed to roam freely until their asylum claims are processed and they are allowed to remain? I'm not suggesting they should be locked up, far from it, but a secure site with facilities, education and the claims process speeded up would surely be better.
Several thousand have gone missing over the years, amongst them many children. How many are women? This is very worrying as they could have been trafficked by OCG.

Great points raised.

"With the military still active on the site, it will be secure. Asylum seekers are not detained but they are still supervised. They will be bussed into nearby towns and cities during the day as they are from other military sites which are used for the same purpose."

Should these people be allowed to roam freely until their asylum claims are processed and they are allowed to remain? I'm not suggesting they should be locked up, far from it, but a secure site with facilities, education and the claims process speeded up would surely be better.
Several thousand have gone missing over the years, amongst them many children. How many are women? This is very worrying as they could have been trafficked by OCG.

Maybe I’ve given you food for thought FT