Philp and Yusuf clash at Piddington press conference over asylum site

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, and Reform UK's home affairs spokesman, Zia Yusuf, clashed at a joint press conference in Piddington, Oxfordshire, on Friday. The event was a protest against plans to house asylum seekers at the former military site at MoD Bicester, the Ministry of Defence land near the village.

The plan would convert the site into accommodation for more than 1,200 detained asylum seekers. Piddington is a village of about 350 people. The press conference was led by Tim McNally, chairman of Piddington Parish Council, the local body elected to represent the village.

The exchange between the two men was sharp. BBC News reported that Yusuf asked Philp to apologise for the Conservatives' record on immigration. Philp told Yusuf to "calm down" and accused him of "cheap politics".

Philp also said a future Conservative government would shut the asylum accommodation "straight away" if it was opened by Labour.

On the planning side, Housing Secretary Angela Rayner approved the Home Office's application to change the use of the MoD Bicester site for asylum accommodation. The Home Office said the approval allows it to continue developing the plan, but that no final decision on the site had been taken.

The parish council is expected to bring a legal challenge to the planning decision. Earlier, in September, Piddington held a symbolic vote to leave the UK over the planned use of the site in Oxfordshire.