Following the news of the data leak that was discovered in August 2023, putting thousands of Afghan lives in danger, there has been a slew of articles claiming that British army veterans were being evicted from their homes to house Afghan asylum seekers.
I took a look at two such claims…
First, the Telegraph article:
Screenshot from The Telegraph
The headline reads:
Afghans prioritised over veterans for housing, ex-soldiers fear
Former military personnel feel ‘betrayed’ amid difficulties in securing accommodation
Yet only one of the four sources quoted in the article actually claimed Afghans were being prioritised, and even then, framed it as a possibility, not a certainty
One ex-soldier:
“I think it’s really important to highlight that there’s nothing wrong with us opening our doors to these people,”
“They were under the ruling from the Taliban, and they were being brutalised under horrific acts.”He was a Parachute Regiment veteran left suffering from PTSD after being shot during a tour of Afghanistan, who had been living on friends’ sofas, and had spoken out about how he had been left at “rock bottom” by his inability to secure housing. He said he felt that veterans should be prioritised for housing.
One town councillor:
“Anyone who served our armed forces – including Afghans – should be entitled to sanctuary here.”
My criticism is the policy, not the people. They should be treated with the utmost respect and dignity, but there clearly isn’t enough infrastructure here for residents or veterans, so these schemes need to be thought aboutHe said he had no reason to believe Afghan refugees were being pushed ahead in the housing queue, but that veteran homelessness “wasn’t fair” and that homeless single mothers and veterans felt betrayed when they were unable to secure housing.
A man who runs a Veterans’ charity:
“I think [Afghans] should get help, especially the ones that have assisted the UK forces, because some of their intelligence would have saved lives.
“But I still think our veterans should get first priority. A lot of veterans do feel let down.”
So three people who all emphasise their support for housing these Afghans, but who feel, rightly, let down by the lack of support for military veterans.
It was only the fourth person quoted, who believed Afghans were being actively prioritised:
A former Army major who is now a local councillor:
“I think there is every reason to believe that has happened,”
“The refugees had a different status.”
“There is a big housing shortage in the Highlands for everyone. I would like to see veterans given more priority, but I do understand the difficulty of that.”
So that headline was based on one person’s opinion, an opinion not shared by another councillor.
Have a look at the combination of the headline and subheading:
Afghans prioritised over veterans for housing, ex-soldiers fear
Former military personnel feel ‘betrayed’ amid difficulties in securing accommodation
The headline is one man’s personal opinion, while the subheading is actually referring to a different issue that far pre-dates the fall of Kabul, let alone the influx of Afghans brought here after the data leak.
From reading the article and the people quoted, those are two separate issues:
Afghans being housed, after their lives were put at risk by the British government, and
military veterans feeling betrayed at not getting enough support.
None of the people quoted actually blamed Afghans for their homelessness, yet the headline was very much designed to suggest that.
The second article, from GB News claimed:
Screenshot from GB News
‘I needed help, I was thrown out’: British Army veteran exposes wall of silence after ‘being evicted to make way for Afghan migrants'
Twitter was full of right-wing accounts sharing this article and taking the headline as gospel.
However, when I read the article itself, and pieced together the sequence of events, using the army veteran’s OWN WORDS, that claim simply didn’t stack up.
