Parliament has defeated a Conservative attempt to exit human rights laws and stop plans to accommodate more than 1,200 male asylum seekers in Oxfordshire.
Members of Parliament voted by 309 to 113 on Wednesday to reject a motion demanding the UK leave the European Convention on Human Rights to enable the deportation of illegal migrants.
ECHR exit motion defeated in Commons
The rejected motion opposed Home Office plans to house 1,256 males at a disused Ministry of Defence location near Piddington, Oxfordshire.
Shadow women and equalities minister Joy Morrissey urged lawmakers to support the proposal to “stand up for our local communities to protect them from illegal migrant men.”
Ms Morrissey claimed such individuals had carried out “horrific crimes” and stated that they “should have been deported before they could roam our streets and forever change the lives of young women and girls”.
The proposal is wrong for local communities and my constituency is wrong for asylum seekers and is wrong for the taxpayer.
Calum Miller, Liberal Democrat MP for Bicester and Woodstock
Villages voice alarm over asylum plan
Liberal Democrat MP Calum Miller spoke out against the housing proposals in the House of Commons, warning that placing over 1,200 men adjacent to small rural villages creates widespread concern.
Addressing the House, Mr Miller said:
“I understand why they are fearful today. As a society, we are failing to protect them from predatory men and, when the worst happens, the justice system is not delivering them swift justice. In that context, any proposal to house over 1,200 men in a new site adjacent to small villages would be a cause for fear and concern.”
Mr Miller also accused the Conservatives and Reform UK of framing the debate around race.
“It’s not a race issue, it’s a man issue. Women and girls are at risk from the behaviour of men. Tragically, nine in 10 assaults are committed by men they know. I will continue to fight for more police and court resources to keep women and girls safe.”
Government delays final decision on Bicester
Home Office minister Anna Turley conceded that existing methods of housing asylum seekers have not been fair, but confirmed no final ruling has been made on the Piddington location.
Ms Turley told the Commons:
“For too long, the way in which we house asylum seekers has not been fair. Billions of pounds have been spent putting them up in hotels while communities have seen these hotels, often at the centre of their towns or cities, become a symbol of a broken asylum system. While the Home Office has submitted a planning application to use MoD Bicester site for asylum accommodation, no final decision has been made.”
Ms Turley also praised local Piddington residents for running an “incredibly imaginative and very forceful” campaign against the proposed facility.
Last month, villagers in Piddington held a symbolic referendum to secede from the UK in protest against the plans.
- House vote: 309 to 113 against the Conservative motion
- Site capacity: 1,256 male asylum seekers at MoD Bicester site
- Local action: Symbolic independence referendum held by Piddington villagers