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