Barnham villagers plan Piddington-style independence vote after Labour targets their RAF base for 1,250 'fighting-age' migrants

From the Newshound archive · first published 21 September 2026.

Parish council chairman John Bauer, 66, is leading a delegation to Piddington this week to plot a symbolic independence referendum after Labour earmarked RAF Barnham for 1,250 male asylum seekers. The plan would more than triple Barnham's population of around 580, overwhelming a village with no shop, no pub, just a hall, church and primary school. Bauer accused the government of contempt for rural communities, warning residents fear for their children and 'womenfolk'.

Piddington set the template last week: 285 villagers backed independence with just 26 against, on a staggering 92 per cent turnout in what locals dubbed the 'Battle for Britain'.

Bauer: 'They don't care that it will increase by two-and-a-half times the population of a village, with single men mostly of fighting age not contained within the site.'

The same RAF base scheme is part of a three-site plan alongside MoD Bicester and Linton-on-Ouse, with council officials told 'a lot more' migrants could ultimately be housed there.