Andy Burnham's government has failed to engage with residents of Piddington following the news that 1,250 illegal migrants will be housed in the Oxfordshire village, according to the chair of the parish council.
Appearing on GB News on Sunday, Tim McNally, Chair of Piddington Parish Council, revealed that neither the Prime Minister nor his Labour Government had been in touch. "We've had no response, nothing at all," he said, referring to the community's campaign, in which the children of Piddington have penned their security concerns in letters sent to the PM.
Revealing that he's been contacted by numerous media outlets, the council chair told presenter Camilla Tominey, "I've had zero from Number 10."
Concerns over screening and proportionality
Calling Piddington the "tip of the spear" for the migrant crisis in the UK, McNally continued, "They've already got documented failures in safeguarding, they had this at RAF Scampton. There are problems here. Most of these gentlemen are fine, but there's a small number [with] a nuisance element that basically causes real concern for me. I know that they're not executing the appropriate screening necessary to be able to determine and sift them out, between the good and the bad."
Telling Tominey that Piddington would be happy to take their "fair share" of illegal migrants, McNally argued that the problem was one of proportionality, considering that the village has less than 400 residents.
"1,250 to us is a 350% increase of our community. 1,250 to London is only 0.18% to the increase of the size of its community. So, it's about proportionality. We're not shy about our responsibility of helping people out and helping them forward, we're not shy about that. What we're shy about is [...] how are they going to assimilate into our community? How are 1,250 men going to assimilate into our community, I think we're going to have to assimilate into theirs."
Government decision called unfair
Blasting the government's decision as "unfair," McNally said that Labour were "forcing this through so no one can be consulted," including the police. "They're moving the pods in next week and haven't even published a proposal," he fumed. "They're just not looking after us."
