Oh dear. The right was at each other’s throats again today during what was meant to be a show of solidarity in Piddington. After Angela Rayner’s decision to dump 1,250 illegal male migrants beside the village, Chris Philp and Zia Yusuf travelled to Oxfordshire for a press conference to unite against the policy. Their unity did not last long. The pair soon fell into a bitter squabble over who was responsible for the mess.
Reform’s home affairs spokesman kicked things off, turning to his Tory counterpart to say: ‘You were heavily involved in borders and immigration policy for the Conservative party.’ Philp interrupted to fire back: ‘Read the room – the public here want you to pipe down on the cheap politics and stand with the community.’
The row rumbled on for a full minute before Piddington Parish Council chair Tim McNally stepped in to remind the pair that they were there for the same reason: to support the villagers. McNally made the fair point that, whatever their political differences, at least Yusuf and Philp had shown up. Labour, the Greens and Piddington’s Lib Dem MP Calum Miller were nowhere to be seen.
Miller’s contribution was a vapid statement online, criticising the decision over the lack of local infrastructure and public services. There was no mention, er, of the VAWG concerns raised by placing undocumented men so close to a small village. For shame.
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