00:00A quaint British village threatened with a massive migrant invasion.
00:04I'm looking for self-determination.
00:06I'm looking for the people of our village being able to manage and control their future
00:11rather than being dictated to.
00:13After UK officials shared plans to build a migrant encampment at a nearby military site,
00:19potentially quadrupling the tiny village's population of just 350 residents.
00:24We cannot have a situation where it's only the poorest communities in the country
00:28that receive all of the dispersal of refugees and asylum seekers.
00:34Here's what we know about the citizen uproar in Pittington
00:37and the shocking referendum that's forcing British politicians to take notice.
00:41The tiny UK village of Pittington in Oxfordshire is fighting back
00:45after officials announced plans to convert a nearby military barracks
00:49into an asylum seeker refugee camp,
00:51dumping 1,250 male migrants only a few miles away from the remote village.
00:57The migrant camp, which would be built near Bicester in an area known as Site A,
01:02would be part of a larger home office plan to move migrants from hotels to military bases.
01:07According to the BBC, the UK's governing Labour Party has pledged to stop placing migrants
01:12in notorious asylum hotels, citing their decreased cost effectiveness
01:16and constant backlash from the British public,
01:19who can often be seen protesting outside the sites.
01:22But the move from hotels to military sites, especially the one near Pittington,
01:27is causing major blowback.
01:29One Oxford charity called Asylum Welcome has even come out against the proposal at Bicester,
01:34claiming in a statement that the migrants, quote,
01:37large-scale accommodation on isolated military sites
01:40would be damaging as it moves asylum seekers farther away from support,
01:45increases community tension, and makes integration harder.
01:48The area's MP Callum Miller also went on the offensive in an interview with the BBC,
01:53accusing the government of having, quote,
01:55no credible plan on how it would manage the site.
01:58The truth of the matter is this is not a safe site
02:01to keep 1,250 people who will have no access to transport
02:05and no way of leaving the site safely.
02:07It's not an appropriate site for them, nor for local residents,
02:10nor for the taxpayer, who will have to pay a huge amount of money to get this site ready.
02:15According to The Telegraph, the government has claimed the encampment would be, quote,
02:19largely self-sufficient, but residents aren't buying it.
02:22Pittington locals worry the migrant camp could overwhelm the small village of 350 people,
02:27which has no shop, school, or even a pub.
02:31One resident even went so far as calling the planned encampment a, quote,
02:35Trojan horse situation to the Daily Mail.
02:38Local politicians in Pittington are now using some unorthodox methods
02:41to get the attention of the British government.
02:43In tandem with the U.S.'s 250th Independence Day celebration on the 4th of July,
02:48residents in Pittington held a vote on whether the village should hold a referendum
02:53to secede from the United Kingdom and become their own independent state.
02:57According to Tim McNally, the chair of the Pittington Parish Council,
03:00who has been leading the charge against the military encampment,
03:03almost two-thirds of the village participated and 96% voted in favor.
03:08The referendum could take place in September.
03:10We've already got our referendum vote keyed up and ready to go.
03:15We've got the approval from the village to proceed in that way,
03:19to seek our independence and determination, our self-determination.
03:23And everyone is doing their bit.
03:26Since the referendum vote, Pittington's story has gone viral.
03:29Billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk has jumped in to show support for the tiny village.
03:35And McNally has posted a series of popular minutes-long videos to X
03:39to update the public on Pittington's progress.
03:41I've been chasing Andy Burnham since the 20th of July, since he gained premiership.
03:47It's now three weeks and a day.
03:50Not a single communication.
03:53And the only communication we've had from 10 Downing Street is misleading,
03:58misguiding, and also deliberately obtuse in response.
04:03Prime Minister Andy Burnham told GB News that he had recently become aware of Pittington's criticism
04:09and was looking to speak with them about the concerns.
04:11I will listen to what people are saying and respond to the concerns that they are putting forward.
04:18I don't know the issue yet in detail, but in some ways, as I understand it,
04:22it is about creating secure space and not have the HMO issues that you were talking about earlier.
04:31It's obviously going to be challenging, but I am prepared always to listen to people,
04:35to work with people, and to pick up legitimate concerns.
04:40McNally claims even though he's gone on a media whirlwind, he still hasn't heard from Burnham.
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