MP compares Piddington women's concerns to silencing of victims

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 15 Oct, 16:33 · Archive

An MP has compared women's safety concerns about an asylum seeker housing plan in Piddington to the treatment of rape gang victims.

During a Parliamentary debate on Wednesday, Conservative shadow women and equalities minister Joy Morrissey compared the treatment of women in Piddington voicing safety concerns to the silencing of rape gang victims. The women are protesting government plans to house 1,250 male asylum seekers at the former MoD Bicester site near the village. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch visited the village last month to show support for the women.

Morrissey questioned why Labour MPs had not responded to Piddington women who had written to them about the issue. She criticised the government's approach, saying it was using class as a weapon to silence concerns and calling it a dangerous and lazy method that failed to unite the country.

Liberal Democrat MP Calum Miller, representing Woodstock and Bicester, accused the Conservatives and Reform UK of attempting to frame the issue as one of race. 'It is not a race issue; it is a man issue,' he said. A group of women from Piddington attended the debate in the public gallery.

How it is being reported

• Piddington women being 'silenced like rape gang victims', MP claimsWOMEN in Piddington are being "silenced like rape gang victims", an MP has claimed.Oxford Mail · 15 Oct, 16:00
• Piddington women being 'silenced like rape gang victims', MP claimsWOMEN in Piddington are being "silenced like rape gang victims", an MP has claimed.Oxfordshire Guardian · 15 Oct, 16:00

In this story: Joy Morrissey · Kemi Badenoch · Calum Miller · Piddington · Bicester

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem