Wiltshire council leader says abuse of Afghans is 'un-British'
Cllr Thorn said it at a council meeting this week
The abuse of Afghan migrants is un-British and not patriotic, the leader of Wiltshire Council has said.
To calls of ‘hear, hear’ and applause from colleagues, the leader of Wiltshire Council, Ian Thorn, started the meeting of the council’s cabinet on Tuesday, September 16 with “a very serious announcement that relates to a series of incidents of harassment being directed at members of the Afghan community not just in one, but in several parts of our county.”
Cllr Thorn (Liberal Democrat, Calne Central) reminded councillors that “some of those Afghans are here because they served the Crown and risked their lives on behalf of our armed forces.”
“We absolutely reject this type of behaviour directed at adults and children,” he added.
“I want to send a message that this kind of behaviour is un-British, it’s not patriotic, and it’s unacceptable and I sincerely hope it stops.”
Later in the meeting, the leader addressed a written question from councillor Augusta Urquhart-Nicholls (Reform UK, Calne Chilvester & Abberd) regarding the housing of asylum seekers in Wiltshire.
She asked the council to confirm whether there are currently, or have been in the past two years, any asylum seeker or irregular migrant accommodation in Wiltshire, including transitional housing, contingency hotel placements, or in Ministry of Defence property.
She also asked for the type and duration of accommodation, the locations involved, the responsible managing authority, and the cost of services provided by Wiltshire Council.
In response, the council wrote the Home Office contractor Clearspring Ready Homes was responsible for accommodation for asylum seekers in Wiltshire.
There are currently no hotels or MoD property being used to house asylum seekers.
MoD property that is currently being used is transitional service family accommodation which is “temporarily housing Afghans under the Afghan Resettlement Policy.”
The accommodation, which had been operating since December 2023, is due to close in November this year.
The council wrote Clearspring had been operating in Wiltshire since 2019, providing temporary accommodation for asylum seekers while their claim is being processed.
It said no hotels had been used for asylum seekers since March 2024, and that the number of asylum seekers being housed in Wiltshire was a matter of public record.
“It is not possible to disclose live locations of properties being used for asylum seekers or Afghans in settled MoD accommodation due to Section 38 of the Health & Safety Act,” the written response said “as disclosure of the details of the locations has the potential to endanger the health or safety of the individuals housed in those locations.”
With funding from central government, Wiltshire Council was supporting Afghans in a specific capacity to support their move from transitional accommodation into settled accommodation, the council wrote.
In a supplementary question, Cllr Urquhart-Nicholls asked whether settled accommodation was being provided within Wiltshire, and how was this impacting the availability and supply of social housing across Wiltshire.
“Are resettlements prioritised over social housing applications from other Wiltshire residents?” she asked.
Referring back to her question about the location of accommodation for asylum seekers, she said: “I believe people have the right to know, particularly women who may have concerns over the presence of individuals in their community whose backgrounds and criminal history are not known.”
Cllr Thorn responded: “I won’t be disclosing any more information about where people live. it’s insidious, it’s inappropriate, and given what I said at the start of the meeting in terms of the horrendous behaviour of a tiny minority who are making some people’s lives absolutely hell there will be no directing as far as I’m concerned.”
Emma Legg, corporate director for care & wellbeing at Wiltshire Council added: “A small number of people want to stay in Wiltshire but the majority wants to be with other communities in other parts of the country.
“There is no priority given to anybody through that scheme. Anyone who presents as homeless will be worked with in line with our policy in the same way as anybody else,” she said.
Responding, Cllr Urquhart-Nicholls said: “Considering this is one of the biggest political questions our country is facing, we need to be ready to have these conversations, do our due diligence, and not to resort to political posturing.”
Cllr Thorn replied: “I’m not sure anyone is doing any political posturing. These people are here, in many cases, because they worked for the Ministry of Defence, they risked their lives for this country, and they are here because their lives would be threatened in Afghanistan.
“We should pay tribute to them, rather than seek to hound them.”