By GB News (Politics) | Created at 2024-12-18 17:02:54 | Updated at 2024-12-18 20:20:30
3 hours ago
A Labour-led London council has sparked outrage after sharing a video advertising social housing "to migrants" in multiple foreign languages - before quietly taking it down.
Westminster City Council, in the heart of the capital, announced its new housing allocation scheme in English, Arabic, Bengali, Spanish, and French in a video on social media.
The scheme, it says, "aims to make allocating social housing more transparent and prioritise those facing multiple challenges".
But its apparent promotion to non-English-speakers has left onlookers "flabbergasted" and asking questions over whether people who "can't speak English in Westminster" should be given taxpayer-funded housing in the first place.
Westminster City Council had announced its new housing allocation scheme in English, Arabic, Bengali, Spanish, and French
PA/WESTMINSTER COUNCIL
'People will be flabbergasted that huge taxpayer housing subsidies are actively promoted to people who have arrived here without even learning English,' Neil Garratt said
SUTTON CONSERVATIVES
Rents in Westminster are among the highest in Britain
PA
William Yarwood, media campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance, offered a similar sentiment.
He told GB News: "Taxpayers are tired of being squeezed to fund social housing for migrants.
"Thousands of hardworking young people are struggling to afford homes in London, often crammed into rooms no bigger than a shoebox, while migrants who can't even speak English are being handed prime real estate.
"Social housing should be prioritised for British citizens, not economically inactive migrants."
'If people can't speak English in Westminster, they shouldn't be given social housing,' Rupert Lowe said
PA
The video was then taken down - with Ashworth-Hayes suggesting this was due to the "social media backlash" - sparking fury from Reform UK's Rupert Lowe.
He said: "Why has Westminster Council posted, then deleted, a video about social housing which was translated into a number of languages?
"If people can't speak English in Westminster, they shouldn't be given social housing. Nor should any translation be provided."
Westminster City Council says the new scheme, meant to arrive in February next year, introduces "a new band system to more openly reflect the needs and circumstances of those waiting for social housing".
It also says it "gives greater priority to households facing severe or multiple challenges, by bringing in new priority groups to reflect this".
A spokesman for the council told GB News: "The council complies with the national criteria for allocating council homes to our local residents prioritising those with the greatest need.
"We provide translations into commonly spoken languages to ensure anyone entitled to apply for social housing is able to understand and follow the process."
