A councillor who was reported to the police by a fellow Labour councillor for saying local residents should have the same access to support as Afghans has revealed he has been inundated with “heartbreaking” messages from locals.Bracknell Forest Council backed a Lib Dem motion to support Afghan nationals who served alongside British troops, as part of the Government's Afghan Resettlement Programme - offering relocation to 300 nationals who are considered "vulnerable" or "in danger from the Taliban".FULL STORY HERE.
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00:00A storm has hit a small Berkshire town as Bracknell prepares to welcome 300 Afghan arrivals
00:06with more expected. Now the local council backed a Lib Dem motion to support Afghan nationals who
00:13served alongside British troops. But one council's attempt to put locals first sparked outrage.
00:19Councillor John Edwards supported the plan in principle but said that Bracknell residents and
00:23UK veterans should get the same support, not less. Now Councillor Edwards argued that Newcomers
00:29shouldn't receive better access to housing, health care or financial help than locals but it's fair to
00:35say that his comments prompted a complete political storm. I'm delighted to say I'm joined now in the
00:41studio by the town council at Sandhurst Town Council councillor Edwards where you caused a bit of a
00:47ferrari and all you were asking for was to put British people on a parity with those coming to
00:53your constituency. Yeah totally not more no just not less. So Bracknell Forest Council
00:59has welcomed 300 Afghans to Bracknell. I support that in principle because lots of these people have served
01:05our armed forces. But they were on a briefing call and we were being told about what kind of support
01:10they've been given and they've been given in a four star hotel. All their food catered for, all their bills
01:15obviously paid for, they get private delivered health care. It's not Bupa but it's it's outside the
01:20NHS and avoids waiting times. And there's wraparound care and move on support. And I was listening to this
01:26I thought this surely isn't the type of support that Bracknell residents are getting or veterans.
01:30So I put out a post to people on the housing waiting list or waiting for support and I was
01:35absolutely inundated with nothing but heartbreaking stories. Single mothers in one bed flats with four
01:42kids, mould so bad it's put their kids in hospital. She says I feel like I failed. A veteran,
01:49he's got two young kids in a single bed flat again, mould so bad his kids have been put in hospital,
01:56respiratory conditions and he served in Afghanistan. He said I know what these guys did, I want them to
02:02be safe, I want them to help but he said where's my help? And yet when you put this post out you
02:08reported to the police and this simply went off the rails. Yeah and I haven't just been reported to the
02:14police by a resident. I've been reported to the police by a Labour councillor at Bracknell Forest
02:19for bringing transparency to this. You know my posts have always been clear and I want to be clear
02:24now. This isn't about you know being divisive. You know these people who have arrived need to be
02:29treated with respect and dignity. I was just trying to give transparency because Bracknell Forest were
02:34very good at delivering this information sort of whitewashed and making it difficult to actually
02:38understand how unfair this scheme was. So I wanted parity for Bracknell residents and veterans and I
02:43supported transparency. It should have been totally uncontroversial but I've been reported to the
02:48police, I've had complaints put into me and then of course the Lib Dems put in a motion
02:52calling for these Afghans to be welcomed to the area which I said I support in principle. I support
03:02that but I put in an amendment which was that I said but we also recognise that Bracknell residents
03:10should be at the same level of support and veterans as well and they voted that down.
03:14And few would disagree with that. Councillor John I would thank you for joining us tonight on
03:17GB News tonight and we contacted Sandhurst Town Council for a comment and they declined to make
03:24any comment whatsoever.