MPs reject bid to block Bicester asylum site as Piddington women watch from Commons gallery

Labour defeated a Conservative motion by 309 votes to 113 — a majority of 196 — that would have blocked the Home Office's proposal to house 1,256 male asylum seekers at the former MoD Bicester site, half a mile from the small Oxfordshire village of Piddington. Shadow equalities minister Joy Morrissey opened the debate by drawing attention to the women of Piddington seated in the public gallery, telling Labour MPs they now had "nowhere to hide". The government argued that comparable sites had operated "for years" with "no evidence of any significant increase in criminality".

Piddington, a village of around 400 residents, held a symbolic vote last month on seceding from the UK in opposition to the Home Office's plans for the site.

Of 266 female MPs written to by Piddington women, only four replied — and Women and Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson reportedly declined to meet them.

The MoD Bicester site may face further delays beyond the current dispute — a separate report warns that a bat colony on the site could push any opening back to 2028.