City estate could help house Afghan refugees
I WAS recently speaking to my old friend, Bob Kemp, a regular contributor to Mailbox, and who, over many years, has supplied interesting information and many photos to your Nostalgia page and its predecessor pages.
He said that he was disappointed (I think he was joking) that he had not seen any correspondence from me for a long time, so here goes:
The recent crisis in Afghanistan and the chaotic evacuation is a terrible indictment of this incompetent government.
Our PM boasts that he has brought home over 15,000 people - military, British nationals and Afghans who helped us, risking their lives over the past two decades.
The evacuation owes all to the actions of our magnificent soldiers and brave embassy officials (not the government), but there was no time to bring out many thousands of Afghans who bravely helped this country.
We have known for about 18 months that this situation was coming but no action was taken until a few days before Kabul fell to the Taliban. The government was asleep at the wheel and many thousands of Afghans now live in fear of their lives.
We must now do everything we can to help the Afghans who made it here and to assist those left behind to get here. The government has promised a “warm welcome” to 20,000 Afghans over five years, an arbitrary cap on numbers – it should be open-ended.
Accommodation and services will be required and I have been heartened by offers of accommodation and all forms of assistance from local authorities, organisations and many individuals all over the country. Much more will be needed.
I see from the Leicester Mercury (“Fear and frustration on estate city has forgotten,” August 30) that Leicester City Council had agreed to purchase the small, delapidated, but modern estate at Hospital Close from the NHS Trust for £10.5 million and to spend £3-4 million to put everything in order, but nothing has been done.
Perhaps the council could make us proud by buying and refurbishing this development as soon as possible.
The few remaining occupants would be delighted and the remaining other houses could be offered to our Afghan friends and families. Let the council follow the example set by our own Leicester born and bred hero, Gary Lineker. This would be a most generous and charitable act and would show Leicester to be a place with principles, setting a fine example to other towns and cities.
Come on, Peter Soulsby and co, surprise us all and do the right thing. We are all human beings, let us help those less fortunate than ourselves.
Julian Branston, Leicester