According to a report in Breitbart News, the tiny Oxfordshire village held a symbolic referendum after the British government announced plans to house 1,200+ male asylum seekers at a former military site nearby – several times the village’s population.

Residents said they were concerned about the safety of children and women, infrastructure and the government imposing such a major change on their community without adequate consultation. So they pushed back – spectacularly.

With a whopping 92% turnout, residents voted 285-26 to “secede from the UK and pursue self- determination.” The newly self-proclaimed “Principality of Piddington” is even considering its own ID cards and elected officials.

No, the vote isn’t legally binding. Piddington hasn’t actually escaped Britain. But there’s something wonderfully refreshing about citizens reminding government officials that communities aren’t just dots on a map where bureaucrats can dump policies and expect everyone to quietly deal with the consequences.

The government, as you would expect, doesn’t give a rat’s butt about what their own citizens want. According to Breitbart News, while officials said they appreciated the concerns of the residents (they really don’t), their policy of placing migrants in poor areas with cheap property had to end with the middle class now having to do their bit.

Piddington’s declaration may be symbolic, but the message isn’t: government works for the people, not the other way around. When officials deliberately make life worse for the citizens they’re supposed to represent – and then tell them to shut up and “do their bit” – pushing back isn’t the problem. It’s exactly what citizens are supposed to do.