Meeting held opposed to plan for asylum seekers

A public meeting has taken place for people to share their views on plans to accommodate 1,250 asylum seekers at a former military base.

The government said last week it plans to use MOD Bicester but locals have raised concerns about safety and the impact on services.

Bicester and Woodstock MP Calum Miller invited residents and representatives from different political parties to address the issue on Thursday at the John Paul II Centre in Bicester.

Miller told the BBC: "Nobody thinks this is the right proposal in the right site and everybody is motivated to stand up to the government and say we do not want it to dictate what happens in our area."

The Home Office said the site would provide basic accommodation for men and be "largely self‑sufficient to minimise any impact on the local community".

If approved, it will be used for a minimum of ten years, with a provisional 270 asylum seekers expected to be housed by the end of the year, according to a letter sent to service personnel at the base.

Liberal Democrat MP Miller said: "I believe that what we heard tonight was a singularity of purpose and I think we need to work really hard across parties to do that.

"I'm very happy to leave national politics on immigration at the door in order to focus on what is right for our community, and I hope that other parties will respond in kind to that open invitation and that we'll be able to work together."

But Paul Jeffreys, leader of Reform on Cherwell District Council, said his party was against the centres being built in the first place.

"We also want to make people aware, if they move out here, where's the government going to put them?" he said.

"Reform's action is to detain, process and deport those people who shouldn't be here."

Green Party councillor Tom Beckett said the local community was being affected by global events.

"Thinking about them in isolation is really dangerous, I think it doesn't give empathy to the situation which is arising," he said.

A petition by Miller calling on the government to stop the plans has had almost 10,000 signatures.

He said he would be taking feedback from the community back to the Home Office, MOD, and Ministry of Justice, and "make sure that people there fully understand how strong the local opposition is".

Two former military sites - RAF Wethersfield in Essex, and Crowborough Training Camp in East Sussex - are already being used to house asylum seekers.

Labour has pledged to stop using hotels, a costly form of accommodation that has become a focal point for anti-migrant protests.