Barnham village plans symbolic Brexit-style vote over asylum seeker base

Barnham, a Suffolk village of about 600 people, is moving forward with a symbolic referendum on seceding from the United Kingdom as a protest against plans to accommodate asylum seekers at the former RAF base MoD Barnham. The idea mirrors a September unofficial vote in Piddington, Oxfordshire, where 90% backed “independence” after the government announced a similar scheme at MoD Bicester. At a recent village-hall gathering, just seven of 80 attendees voted against holding a referendum, and a group will meet to finalize the voting schedule.

Parish council chair John Bauer, who supports the initiative, said the poll underscores residents' frustration with the government's top-down approach. The Ministry of Defence maintains that any asylum-seeker presence would be limited to the early processing stage, while Home Office minister Anna Turley has defended the use of former military sites as cost-effective, self-contained accommodation.