Labour accused of playing 'Russian roulette with people's lives' as Piddington holds independence referendum: 'We're crying out!'

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A furious Piddington resident has accused the Labour Government of playing "Russian roulette" with the lives of Britons over plans to house more than 1,000 asylum seekers near his village.

Speaking to GB News, Jamie Perkin declared that residents of the tiny Oxfordshire hamlet have "had enough" of the Government's unwillingness to respond to their pleas against the plan.

Piddington, home to just 350 people, has seen its residents continually protest over plans to move 1,256 asylum seekers into MoD Bicester, a local disused military site.

In their latest demonstration against the decision, the villagers have held a symbolic independence referendum to "leave the UK".

Speaking to GB News after casting his vote, Mr Perkin declared that the vote is about making "as much noise as possible" for the Government to listen to them.

He said: "I voted today to show my support for the village, and today is about making as much noise as possible so the Government might finally listen.

"I think the vote will tell you its own story, and we are crying out for this Government to listen to us."

Recalling Prime Minister Andy Burnham's pledge last month on GB News to "listen to the good people of Piddington", Mr Perkin stressed that the village has not received any communication from NO10.

He said: "Mr. Burnham has said he will listen to the good people of Piddington, and he hasn't done so. He's shown us very little, so, if anything, Labour are the only party that have shown very little interest in our worries."

Asked why the asylum seekers should not be housed in MoD Bicester, the Piddington resident made clear that the site is "not a barracks", and currently has no basic amenities such as water and electricity.

Mr Perkin explained: "Number one, it's not a barracks, it's a former storage facility from World War II. There's no infrastructure there, there's no sewage, there's no water.

"And there's a potential they could run it off generators for 10 years at £9million a year in diesel. Who's going to be the one that suffers with the emissions? Our little village."

He made clear: "We aren't asking for these people to be transferred elsewhere, we are now fighting for ourselves and for the country. This country hasn't been listened to for a long time now. Up and down the country, we see it all the time that people are getting dumped in these cities and towns.

"And I agree, a lot of villages don't have to take the amount that cities and towns do, but when was the last time you ever saw a village or a town quadrupled in population overnight with people that we know nothing about, people that the government know nothing about?"

Expressing concern for his three young children, Mr Perkin warned that children will be outnumbered "25 to one" if the plans go ahead.

He told GB News: "I've got three young children. How can I promise that I can keep them safe? We're not naive, we see the news, we listen to the stories. I'm not for one second saying every single person coming over here is going to be a bad person, but we also know that there's going to be quite a large number of them that have backgrounds that will bring trouble to this village.

"We can't cope with it. Women will be outnumbered 10 to one. We've got 46 children who will be at number 25 to one. The Government are playing Russian roulette with our lives, and quite frankly, they need to sort it out because we've had enough.

"The Government needs to sort it out. We don't want this transfer to anyone else, we want the Government to sort this immigration policy out because enough is enough."

A Home Office spokesman has said: "The Government is closing every asylum hotel, saving taxpayers over £1billion on asylum support since the election.

"We are working to fairly house asylum seekers across the country, moving asylum seekers into alternative accommodation, including former military sites which are designed to be self-contained to reduce impact on the local community.

"As part of the process, we engage with local authorities and police forces to ensure the safety and security of those in the surrounding area."