By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-09-20 15:45:46 | Updated at 2026-09-20 16:25:07
51 minutes ago
Liberal Democrat MP Al Pinkerton has said that campaigns in the town of Piddington attracted “deeply dark elements” as locals resisted plans to house more than a thousand migrants nearby.
Speaking to GB News, the Lib Dem Europe spokesman said he had “huge sympathy” for the plight of the Oxfordshire village and warned that some protests could be “counterproductive”.
Piddington, represented by Lib Dem Bicester and Woodstock MP Calum Miller, gained national attention after a scheme to relocate 1,256 male asylum seekers to a nearby disused military site was announced.
The village, home to just 389 residents, has launched a series of high-profile campaigns to draw attention to their plight, including a bombshell referendum to declare independence from the United Kingdom.
Mr Pinkerton said he understood the concerns of the Piddington locals and backed his collegues attempts to overturn the migrant placement plans.
“I do feel huge sympathy for the people of Piddington. I know the MP for Bicester, Callum Miller, who has been campaigning tirelessly both in public and behind the scenes to get the MoD and the Home Office to rethink this plan.”
He described the plans as “completely excessive for a community of 389”.
However, Mr Pinkerton admitted he had concerns about the style of some of the Piddington campaigns.
Liberal Democrat MP Al Pinkerton has expressed concerns about 'dark elements' in Piddington protests
GB NEWS
The Lib Dem said elements had been “deeply negative and frankly verging on racist, even though the people of Piddington aren't”.
“They have attracted some deeply dark elements that might actually be, in the end, counterproductive.”
He suggested that it could force ministers to “go on the record and say: ‘no, this is the plan and we're sticking with it’".
He added: “I would just caution that everyone needs to tone this down, because ultimately that might lead to the better solution for the people of Piddington.”
Piddington locals are resisting plans to house 1,256 male asylum seekers on a nearby military site
PA
To that end, Mr Pinkerton praised his colleague Mr Miller's style as far more effective in representing the village.
“I think the work that Callum has been doing quietly and diplomatically, I think that is the right approach.”
Addressing the migrant crisis more broadly, the Lib Dem Europe spokesman insisted that cooperation with the EU was essential.
“They are coming, of course, through France. But perhaps they first applied for asylum in southern Italy or in Greece.
“So unless we have a mechanism to collectively deal with this issue, it will. There will always be an economy for that illegal movement of people across the channel.
“We are saying that we need to join the European Union's new asylum scheme, because that will allow us to return people to the first port of entry and the first point of registration in Europe.
“We are a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, but it fundamentally undermines the economic model that is leading to the small boats phenomenon, and I think that has to be a good thing.
“If people genuinely want small boats to stop, then that is the way to do it.”
