Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf confronted Chris Philp, the Conservative shadow home secretary, at a press conference in Piddington, Oxfordshire, demanding an apology for the Conservatives Party’s failure to secure the UK border.
“When the Tories had a whopping majority, having promised the British people in four consecutive elections they would secure our borders, you refused to do it,” Yusuf said. “Chris, you should apologise to the British people and to the people of Piddington, who would not be in this mess if you had used your majority to secure our borders and stop the boats. Would you like to apologise?”
Philp refused to apologise, instead claiming that as immigration minister he had no control over immigration.
The clash came a day after Angela Rayner, the Housing Secretary, was reported to have granted planning permission for a camp of up to 1,256 single adult male asylum seekers beside a village of 358 residents.
Philp instead hid behind attacks on the Labour Party, stating: “I am a new and different shadow Home Secretary.” Yusuf told him the notion that he “had no involvement” was “not true.” “You were heavily involved in immigration and borders policy for the Conservative Party.”
Philp was Minister for Immigration Compliance and Justice from February 2020 to September 2021, when official ONS figures put net migration at 384,000 in the year to September 2021. He later served as a Home Office minister of state, as Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire, from October 2022 to July 2024. Official net migration peaked at 944,000 in the year to March 2023, while he held that policing post, not the immigration brief. He has also accused Rayner of “abusing” emergency powers to “force a camp for 1,500 young male illegal migrants onto a tiny rural village.” The application, and the reported letter, are for up to 1,256 single adult men aged 18 to 65.
A notification letter, quoted by the Express and said to have been sent to Greg Smith, the Conservative MP for Mid Buckinghamshire, a neighbouring seat, said the Secretary of State had that day “granted planning permission, subject to conditions, for the Home Office’s application described above.”
On 4 July the village voted 175 to 7 to hold a referendum on secession. In a symbolic poll on 15 September, 285 voted for leaving the United Kingdom, 26 against and one ballot was spoiled, from 312 counted. The parish vice-chairman, Susannah Parden, said that was “nearly 92% of the ballot papers issued.” The vote is not legally binding, and Piddington remains in the United Kingdom, as this website has reported. A similar protest has since been considered at Barnham in Suffolk.
Jenny Lamont, chairman of Wrong Plan, Wrong Site, told the Telegraph that the camp would occupy training ground used by the Defence Explosive Ordnance Disposal Munitions and Search unit, based at St George’s Barracks a mile from the site. The government, the paper reported, said the unit would relocate its training and that this would not affect the services it provided. Tim McNally, chairman of Piddington Parish Council, said the parish had “received information that three Bicester GP practices have been asked to prepare for approximately 400 additional patients each” and that this “needs a clear public response from the NHS and Home Office.”
The Home Office has already awarded a £1.2 million design-only contract to Reds10 (UK) Limited, entered into on 3 November, and “has no commitment to enter into the Stage 2 building works contract.” Earlier papers referred to 3,510 places; the department has since called that figure outdated, and the present application is for 1,256. Until a final decision to proceed is taken, and until a decision notice is published, the camp has not been authorised to open.
“I think there’s a lot of people in the country who want to hold the Conservative Party accountable for their record,” Yusuf said. Reform UK posted the clip with the line: “The Tories still won’t apologise for the biggest immigration betrayal in our history.”
The Tories still won’t apologise for the biggest immigration betrayal in our history.
— Reform UK (@reformparty_uk) 13 November 2026
