0:00
This is an incredible situation. You're the leader of the Conservative Council, of course, Hillingdon, an area where Chagossians have historically made their home because it's proximity to the nearby airport
0:11
And we find ourselves in a situation where they're fleeing because of the Chagos deal
0:15
And you're on the front line and you're saying it's going to be very, very difficult to house them
0:21
Yeah, that's absolutely right. It is becoming increasingly difficult to house people that are returning or coming from the Chagos Islands to the United Kingdom
0:30
Hillingdon is the home authority for Heathrow Airport, and we are one of a few number of gateways into the country for people from the Chagos
0:39
We have seen the pressures rise quite enormously. In the first six months after the deal was announced, we had just 55 households come into Heathrow, of which 46 required our support for temporary housing
0:56
In the first seven weeks of this year, we have had 57 households coming in from the Chagos Islands
1:04
and all of those have required our support with temporary housing. The difficulty here is not so much with the people from the Chagos Islands that are exercising their rights
1:15
and we are quite willing to support them The difficulty here is that the government is just failing to fund the responsibility that is now falling onto the local authorities and as a consequence
1:26
is falling onto the shoulders of Hillingdon residents. It seems incredible that people fleeing British citizens
1:35
Commonwealth sovereign citizens fleeing a policy decision made by the Prime Minister are turning up, as is their right
1:42
that they are entitled 100% to be here, and yet a Labour government could make them
1:48
be veering towards almost homelessness because there's simply no room at the inn
1:55
Well, when they arrive, they are actually declaring themselves homeless, so these people do present themselves as homeless
2:02
And those with families, with children, we have a duty to house
2:06
and that is the difficulty, is providing the housing. During the present housing crisis
2:11
that's hitting London exceedingly hard. And this is not only forcing us to look far further afield
2:18
in the country to move these families to, but also to move our own household presentations
2:25
and those that we have presenting from the Home Office hotels that are accommodated in Heathrow
2:32
So we have here not only the arrivals from the Chagos, but we have also the asylum seekers in the hotels
2:40
It is causing a massive problem
