Keir Starmer has slammed people who peddle 'conspiracy theories' about veterans being made homeless to house asylum seekers
What has homelessness among veterans got to do with asylum seekers? Everything, according to certain corners of the internet.
“Migrants live in luxury, veterans made homeless,” screamed a Talk TV headline earlier this year. “Typical – why can’t we take care of our own?” fumed angry commenters.
Social media is full of such claims – ex-servicemen supposedly being turfed out of homeless shelters to make room for asylum seekers.
But is it true? In an exclusive interview, we asked prime minister Keir Starmer – and he was unequivocal.
“That is totally false. It’s conspiracy theory nonsense,” he told us. “On the contrary, we’ve actually got a ‘forces first’ policy, which is where veterans have preferential treatment, particularly on things like having to prove a local connection, which will be difficult for people coming out of the forces. So it is the complete opposite. It is a nonsense story, totally false.
“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to knock it down… it’s those sort of stories that are really unhelpful for veterans.”
This aligns with expert interviews previously conducted by Big Issue. Lee Buss-Blair, former soldier and director of operations at Riverside, explained earlier this year that while veterans face unique challenges, they are not overrepresented in the homeless population.
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