A Suffolk village fighting plans for asylum accommodation at a nearby military base is being encouraged to follow Piddington’s controversial path to national attention – including holding its own symbolic independence referendum and trying to attract the attention of Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
Representatives from Barnham travelled to the Oxfordshire village on Tuesday to learn how its campaign against asylum accommodation at nearby MoD Bicester became an international story. But that publicity has also attracted the far right. Activist Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, and members of his Patriot Platform group descended on Piddington after its independence referendum, causing unease among some residents.
Despite this, Piddington campaigners are advising Barnham to exploit its own local connections and use a relentless social media campaign to “feed the algorithm”. Among the “golden nuggets” they identified were Thomas Paine and Dad’s Army, both connected with neighbouring Thetford, just three miles from Barnham. Paine, whose writing influenced the American and French revolutions, was born there, while much of the classic BBC sitcom was filmed in and around the town.
There is an irony in recommending Dad’s Army as a social media hook for a campaign model that has already attracted far-right activists. The programme’s heroes were members of the Home Guard, formed during the Second World War to help defend Britain against invasion by fascists.
From evidence to publicity
Barnham, a village of around 600 people, is opposing Home Office proposals to accommodate up to 1,250 male asylum seekers at RAF Barnham for at least ten years. The government says no final decision has yet been made.
Until now, Barnham has concentrated largely on an evidence-based challenge involving planning and environmental issues. The site was used to store chemical weapons during the Second World War and later became a storage and maintenance facility for Britain’s first atomic bombs, prompting concerns about possible contamination, while the surrounding area provides habitat for the protected stone-curlew.
Barnham Parish Council chair John Bauer and four other residents travelled 103 miles to study what Piddington campaigners described as their “blueprint”. “We want to engage as many of the village as possible to get all of the residents involved,” Bauer said. “The English disease would be sleepwalking into a nightmare.
“Piddington has been a thorn in the side of the government and perhaps Barnham can become a thorn in the other side.”
‘Feed the algorithm’
Piddington campaigners told the Barnham delegation that using the Paine and Dad’s Army connections alongside a relentless social media push could “feed the algorithm” and catapult Barnham into the spotlight. They suggested the Paine connection could attract attention in the United States, telling the Suffolk visitors that it “will get you to Donald Trump and Elon Musk”.
“You’ve got to bring it alive, and in Barnham, these cultural things like Thomas Paine and Dad’s Army could be the key,” Piddington campaign leader Tim McNally said.
But algorithms respond to people sharing, commenting on and promoting material. In Piddington’s case, some of that wider attention has come from far-right activists, who bring their own political narrative with them.
Long-term Piddington resident Rachel Marsh, whose husband is Jamaican and whose children are mixed race, publicly criticised what she regarded as fear and racism surrounding the campaign. She subsequently reported receiving threats.
Piddington campaigners nevertheless regard the publicity drive as a success, estimating it has generated more than £5m worth of free coverage. News organisations from around the world have descended on a village which, until a few weeks ago, was little known outside Oxfordshire.
But reach is not the same as favourable publicity. To those who support Piddington’s campaign, its residents may appear as a small community standing up to government. To others, the story may look very different: a village where an overwhelming majority voted symbolically to leave the country rather than accept asylum seekers in accommodation nearby.
There is a naivety in seeking the largest possible audience without recognising that the audience, rather than the campaigners, ultimately decides what the story means. Piddington has succeeded in putting itself on the world stage, but it cannot control the impression of the village that viewers around the world take away. That is part of the “blueprint” Barnham is now being encouraged to follow.
Could Barnham declare independence?
Barnham Parish Council will now consider whether to follow Piddington and hold its own symbolic independence referendum. Piddington’s vote had no legal force, but succeeded in bringing national and international media to the village. One councillor said the idea came from the “mad ideas department” and initially “sounded barmy”.
There is scepticism in Barnham. A straw poll carried out by the Local Democracy Reporting Service at a recent parish council meeting found that 60% would vote for the village to secede from the UK, while some fear a referendum could distract from its existing evidence-based campaign. But Bauer has not ruled it out. “Watching Piddington’s campaign and referendum, it’s very obvious how successful they’ve been in gathering publicity,” he said.
“Hopefully we can take some of these ideas back and gain the benefits ourselves, including the possibility of holding our own independence referendum.”
Piddington has shown Barnham how effectively a small village can capture national attention. It has also shown how quickly others can take control of the narrative.
This article has been adapted from a piece by Henry Durand at the Local Democracy Reporting Service, compiled with assistance from AI tools and edited by East Anglia Bylines.
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