Thursday was the first full day of the small, bucolic Oxfordshire village of Piddington’s status as a “principality”, but it had already chosen its national animal – the newt.
As he leaned against the porch of the village hall under a hanging “Battle for Britain 2026” pennant, local parish councillor Joe Marshall, a young building surveyor who finished college three years ago, explained why he chose the lizard-like amphibian.
Newts, he said, had long been present on Site A, the old military site on the edge of the affluent, middle-class village, which the British government plans to turn into a centre housing 1,250 asylum seekers. Bats live there too.
The parish council of Piddington, population 358, believes that a newts and bats defence – a cliche in British media reporting of big planning disputes – could form the basis of a last-ditch legal battle against the asylum centre on environmental grounds.
RM Block
The UK government wants to force through the asylum centre under fast-track planning rules to get around local opposition. As part of its campaign against it, Piddington’s parish council this week held an “independence” referendum at the local hall.
Well-heeled village locals have argued that “unvetted” foreign men could pose a danger to their community, which, they say, also does not have the infrastructure to cope.
However, the campaign has also caused some tensions locally, while it has also attracted the attention of hard-right, anti-migrant groups such as the Patriot Platform, whose black-clad, masked members recently shut down the port of Dover.
Piddington’s independence vote had no constitutional basis but, as a novel publicity stunt, it captured the attention of global media enraptured by this self-proclaimed “plucky” English village that voted to leave the UK in opposition to migration policy.
Local residents overwhelmingly backed the independence vote. Out of 312 votes cast, 285 voted to leave the UK, 26 voted no, and one ballot was spoiled. Piddington declared its independence in front of a phalanx of cameras on Wednesday morning.
Marshall said it felt like a “victory”. Signs proclaiming the “Principality of Piddington” have been erected on the rural approach roads to the village, situated in rolling countryside 25km northeast of Oxford and an hour away from London.
“Somebody on our village Whatsapp group suggested we make the newt our national animal,” Marshall told The Irish Times on Thursday. “So I selected it.”
He said the new “principality” had begun a children’s art competition to design a national flag. Will it have a national parliament? “We’ll look at that down the line.”
A national sports team?
“I assume it will end up being someone’s son’s under-11s cricket team.”
Piddington’s national food?
“Errr, I don’t know about that one.”
The pretty village’s “independence” bid over migration may fit the typical image of English tongue-in-cheek satire, but darker issues lurk in the background. The campaign had majority support, but some locals have complained about its tone towards foreign-born men. Meanwhile, the Patriots Platform says it can offer Piddington “protection”.
On Thursday, the hamlet’s new status as a front in the culture war battles over migration seemed at odds with its apparent serenity. Piddington has no pubs, shops, cafes, restaurants, or retail commerce of any kind.
All was quiet. There were few cars on the roads in the centre of Piddington and few people either – many of the villagers had congregated at St Nicholas church at one end of the village for the funeral of a local woman who had died in a care home.
Meanwhile, caterers unwrapped sandwiches and cake for the funeral’s “afters” at the same village hall where, two days earlier, villagers had cast their “votes” on independence.
The genesis of the row lies in a UK government decision to close down Britain’s so-called “asylum hotels”. They peaked at about 400 in 2023, costing British taxpayers up to £9 million (€10.5 million) per day. The Labour government has been closing them down, with the number of asylum hotels now below 160, according to Britain’s home office.
As part of the strategy, the UK government plans to shift many asylum seekers into repurposed old military sites. Site A near Piddington was chosen alongside others near Linton in rural Yorkshire and Barnham in Suffolk. All have spawned local opposition.
Piddington has been here before. In 2002, Tony Blair’s Labour government announced plans to house asylum seekers on the site, sparking a vigorous campaign of opposition. A local cleric appealed for compassion towards refugees, but according to newspaper reports at the time, she got a brick through the window of her vicarage a few miles away.
The plans were abandoned in 2005, but were revived a few years later before being abandoned again in 2010. Then, early this summer, the Labour government formally outlined its plan for 1,250 asylum seekers there, possibly by the new year.
The government also announced it would use fast-track crown procedures to get around planning requirements for local consultation. This sparked the parish council, led by chairman Tim McNally and backed by other councillors such as Marshall, into action.
On Thursday, as The Irish Times visited, Patriot Platform founder Daniel Thomas – known online to his legion of followers as “Danny Tommo” – was in Piddington, apparently being shown around by locals.
Did Marshall not think it risky for Piddington’s campaign to become involved with the same group which includes masked protesters who had recently marched on Dover?
“It’s the same as any other political party coming here,” he said.
“We had an open invitation to anyone to come, from any political party to charities to [anti migration agitator] Tommy Robinson. We’d rather engage with them, walk them around the village, have a cup of tea and a chat, rather than say we don’t want you here.”
While he was in the village on Thursday, Thomas, who insists his Patriots Platform movement is non-violent, did an interview with right-wing podcaster Dan Wootton. During the call, Wootton said Piddington was “ground zero of the coming civil war” in Britain over migration.
Thomas has floated the idea of drafting in hundreds of volunteers to encircle the asylum centre, preventing anyone from moving in. McNally and the parish council had previously said it did not need such outside “protection”. Did Marshall still think Piddington would reject offers of help from the Robinson ally, Thomas?
“We’d assess it from a risk perspective.”
Would the parish council accept the ruling of British courts if they eventually found in favour of planning permission for the asylum centre?
“Potentially,” said Marshall.
One local resident, a woman called Rachel whose surname is known to The Irish Times but is being withheld, has suffered a barrage of abuse online by Thomas’s supporters after a social media interview she gave this week to BBC presenter Victoria Derbyshire.
Rachel, whose husband Roy is of Jamaican descent, had complained about attitudes towards foreign-born men that had been dredged up by the campaign, which other villagers had insisted was nothing to do with race. Rachel’s address was published online by commenters on X. She received threats of violence. She was mocked and vilified by prominent right-wing figures such as former reality TV star Katie Hopkins.
The Irish Times called to Rachel’s home. She was nervous and had just phoned in a police complaint about Thomas’s visit to the village, fearing it could bring protesters to her door. The Patriot Platform founder, meanwhile, did not go near her house but she was referred to as a “loony lefty” in his interview with Wootton.
“What we are seeing in Piddington on a minute scale is a reflection of what is happening nationally in terms of the migration debate, and further afield,” she said.
“Unfortunately, because of the tone of the campaign, it has laid the foundations for unwanted visitors and people who have personal ambitions beyond this village.”
Rachel said she worked as a private chef and grew up in New Zealand. She moved to Piddington 20 years ago with her husband and sons and had “loved” living there.
Yet she said she had been vilified on the village’s community Facebook and Whatsapp groups for speaking out against the local campaign’s tone, even though she agreed that the proposed camp was too big.
“I’ve been really disturbed by it all,” she said.
Had it changed her view of living in Piddington?
“Definitely.”
The sophisticated publicity campaign spearheaded by parish council chairman McNally attracted the attention not just of British media, but also the support of global right wing figures such as X tycoon Elon Musk. McNally had said he wanted Piddington to become the 51st state of the US.
Later, outside the village hall where locals were inside having tea and sandwiches after the funeral, a man loudly berated a handful of journalists nearby for “taking 50 bags of silver and telling lies” about Piddington.
He quickly apologised: “This issue just gets me so worked up.”
Piddington’s campaign goes on, as does the British government’s search for facilities to house asylum seekers.
