Reform UK’s shadow home secretary Zia Yusuf has accused the Labour government of mounting an “insane attack on a British village” after documents suggested officials had assessed a former Ministry of Defence site near Piddington for up to 3,510 migrants.
The Oxfordshire village has around 350 residents. The Home Office has insisted that the migrant figure is based on an “outdated estimate” and that its current plans are for up to 1,256 asylum seekers at the Bicester Site A facility.
But Yusuf said the newly uncovered assessment showed the true scale of what ministers were preparing for.
“Extraordinary news from Piddington, the little village of 350 people, onto which Andy Burnham is dumping 1,250 illegal migrant men,” he said. “Except it’s not 1,250. It’s 3,510.”
“That would mean local residents being overwhelmed - outnumbered 10 to one. The women and girls of Piddington would be outnumbered 20 to one by illegal migrant men.”
Yusuf said the prospect had left residents fearful for their families. “When I went to Piddington recently, I met a mother who said that she was preparing for this dumping of illegal migrant men into her village by taking self-defence classes with her daughter”, he said.
“I met a father who said that, in his view, his daughters’ childhood was over. And that was when it was 1,250 illegal migrant men. Imagine how they feel now.”
He described the plans as “utterly, utterly insane” and warned that ministers were forcing rural communities to bear the consequences of a border system they had failed to control.
“Tory and Labour governments have left our borders open, allowed well north of a million illegal migrants to amass in this country,” Yusuf said. “Reform will end it on day one.”
He added: “Prime Minister Farage will see to it that every illegal migrant the Tories and Labour brought to this country is detained and deported back to the country from which they came.”
Yusuf warned Labour that “using state power to keep our borders open and force illegal migrant men into local British communities” would “stoke unrest” and “incite disorder”.
“Enough is enough,” he said. “It is time to put British people first.”
The Oxfordshire village has around 350 residents. The Home Office has insisted that the migrant figure is based on an “outdated estimate” and that its current plans are for up to 1,256 asylum seekers at the Bicester Site A facility.
But Yusuf said the newly uncovered assessment showed the true scale of what ministers were preparing for.
“Extraordinary news from Piddington, the little village of 350 people, onto which Andy Burnham is dumping 1,250 illegal migrant men,” he said. “Except it’s not 1,250. It’s 3,510.”
“That would mean local residents being overwhelmed - outnumbered 10 to one. The women and girls of Piddington would be outnumbered 20 to one by illegal migrant men.”
Yusuf said the prospect had left residents fearful for their families. “When I went to Piddington recently, I met a mother who said that she was preparing for this dumping of illegal migrant men into her village by taking self-defence classes with her daughter”, he said.
“I met a father who said that, in his view, his daughters’ childhood was over. And that was when it was 1,250 illegal migrant men. Imagine how they feel now.”
He described the plans as “utterly, utterly insane” and warned that ministers were forcing rural communities to bear the consequences of a border system they had failed to control.
“Tory and Labour governments have left our borders open, allowed well north of a million illegal migrants to amass in this country,” Yusuf said. “Reform will end it on day one.”
He added: “Prime Minister Farage will see to it that every illegal migrant the Tories and Labour brought to this country is detained and deported back to the country from which they came.”
Yusuf warned Labour that “using state power to keep our borders open and force illegal migrant men into local British communities” would “stoke unrest” and “incite disorder”.
“Enough is enough,” he said. “It is time to put British people first.”
