There are set to be angry protests in the Cotswolds due to the ongoing visit of JD Vance. The US Vice President arrived in the village of Dean, near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, on Sunday (August 10) and will stay in the area on holiday until tomorrow (Wednesday, August 13).
He is currently staying at Dean Manor, an 18th century house located close to the home of Lord David Cameron, with his wife Usha and children Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel. However, fuming residents are set to protest against his holiday on Tuesday. Jacqueline De Gier, who moved to the area from the Netherlands several years ago, said: “Nobody is happy about it.”
As reported by the Financial Times, she went on to reference Vance’s previous comments about a lack of free speech in the UK, explaining: “You don’t make a statement about a country which is your host. He has every right to a holiday, but why make it a political visit?”
Residents near the six-acre manor house have faced major disruption since Vance’s arrival. There have been local road closures, sniffer dogs, police door knocks, and a number of blacked-out cars in the area.
The manor house has also been fitted with additional technology as well as a helipad in a nearby field. A series of trucks dropped off luggage ahead of his arrival while the housekeeper of the manor claimed she had “not been informed” of his visit.
One woman told The Times that she and a friend were stopped by police blocking a footpath. “I told the police ‘we are two old ladies, we are hardly terrorists,'” she said.
Another local told LBC: “Generally we like to welcome everybody to Chipping Norton, but no, I’d absolutely kick him in the shins.”
Ian License, who lives just outside of Chipping Norton, said: “It’s a safe place to be for an American nutter.” He added that he “couldn’t understand” why an “American with an ‘America First’ policy would want to holiday in Blighty.”
Vance recently met UK foreign secretary David Lammy in Chevening to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine. It comes ahead of Donald Trump’s meeting with Vladimir Putin on Friday (August 15).
However, Vance said in a Fox News interview on Sunday that the US was “done” funding Ukraine’s war efforts. His comments sparked fury across Europe while Trump previously said Ukraine would have to concede territory for a peace deal to go ahead.
Patrick Neale, who owns a bookshop and café in Chipping Norton, said that “maybe it’s a good thing” that Vince was visiting the UK. Trump previously made comments that certain partys of the nation are “no go areas” due to crime.
