"A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence added: ‘The MoD works closely with injured personnel to ensure that they can obtain accommodation which meets their specific needs.'
This is rubbish! Somebody is not doing their job correctly - if at all!
This country really is the pits - is there really NOBODY who knows how to organise it?
Home fit for a hero? While £1m homes go to asylum seekers, a soldier who lost three limbs serving his country is put in a tiny flat ... on the SIXTH floor
By Luke Salkeld
5th September 2011
He lost three limbs in a bomb blast while serving in Afghanistan.
Now Private Alex Stringer is fighting another battle back home – against a housing allocation that has left him trapped in a tiny sixth floor flat.
As some families living solely on benefits are housed in multi-million-pound properties, the 20-year-old struggles in a flat so small he says he is unable to use his wheelchair indoors.
Cramped: Alex Stringer with fiancé Danielle and their two children Millie and Harlie-Rose in the wet room
He cannot get into the kitchen or his daughter’s bedroom, and when the lifts for the building break down, he has no way of entering or leaving his home in Chadwell St Mary, Essex.
He said the council had installed a wet room but his injuries made sitting on a chair under the shower uncomfortable.
The tiny apartment appears entirely unsuited to the soldier’s needs.
In contrast, a family of refugees from Afghanistan lived in a £1.2million, seven-bedroom London mansion paid for by an astonishing £3,000 a week in housing benefits.
High rise: The seriously injured soldier has been housed on the sixth floor of this block of flats
Private Stringer, of 23 Pioneer Regiment Royal Logistics Corps, had more than 30 operations after losing both legs, shattering his pelvis and suffering injuries so severe that his left arm had to be amputated at the elbow.
He still spends three weeks every two months at the Army’s rehabilitation centre in Headley Court, Surrey, and struggles at home with fiancée Danielle Taylor, 19, and daughters Millie, three, and Harlie-Rose, one this month.
They have been told by Thurrock Council there is a five-year waiting list for a more suitable home.
Private Stringer said: ‘I knew the risks when I signed up and I have no complaints about what happened to me or the Army.
‘But our flat is unsuitable for a triple amputee.
‘I want to be independent again. I rely on Danielle and friends for everything. It’s demoralising.’
His plight will be considered by many to be a clear breach of the Military Covenant – enshrined in law in July – under which the Army can expect to be provided with adequate housing.
Last night Conservative MP Patrick Mercer said of Private Stringer’s situation: ‘[He] deserves much better treatment than this.
‘I wonder how this accommodation compares to other council tenants who have not risked their lives in the service of their country?’
Private Stringer’s living conditions contrast sharply with those of the Afghan family whose controversial living arrangement, which first made headlines in 2008, led to an overhaul of the housing benefits system.
Toorpakai Saiedi and her family – granted leave to remain in Britain after claiming asylum – lived in a series of large properties, all paid for by local authorities, including the seven-bedroom home in Acton, West London.
A spokesman for Thurrock Council said: ‘We are doing everything we can to support Mr Stringer’s return to independence.’
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence added: ‘The MoD works closely with injured personnel to ensure that they can obtain accommodation which meets their specific needs.’
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Its time governments got their priorities right. both Labour and Tories are just as bad in this department, and lib dems a joke, see to our own first then others, we must demand a referendum to get us out of E.U and this madness. what do you have to be to get a house in the U.K, belong to the Taliban perhaps.
- wag, Alicante, 05/9/2011 07:41
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Shame on Thurrock council and more shame on the MOD. Heads need to roll for the treatment of this man and others in the same position. He should be top of the list for housing, to treat our service people like this and we should be ashamed. We send them to wars which we have poked our noses into trying to do the so called "right thing". We can't keep getting involved in wars that don't concern us. I don't see all the other nations playing lead roles like the UK. And to top it off by treating our service people like this is out of order.
- Steve, Essex, England, 05/9/2011 07:41
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SORT IT OUT CAMERON!!!!
- janey, Ashamed to be called British at the moment, 05/9/2011 07:40
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This makes UKIP a better option, and hopefully the British heroes get better looked after. All other parties care about is not upsetting the E.U.
- Quilter, Norfolk, 05/9/2011 07:38
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Sounds about right, the only discrimination in this country is against its own. I hope they don't put him through the tasks I have to go through just to get my blue badge, its obvious I wont get any better. These people should be treated with pride and respect and given all the help we can, we always find it for other countries in need, surely we should be getting our own country in order first. This man may have chosen his trade, but it was a very brave move, and ended up in this position with disabilities for the rest of his life, does any able bodied person even consider what that must be like to wake up each day to find nothing has improved and he is still without limbs, I sincerely hope they get a property suitable to their needs and soon. Good luck to you all.
- MRS BUCKETT, SHROPSHIRE, 05/9/2011 07:38
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THIS IS ENGLAND 2011. ONLY THE WEALTHY AND SCROUNGERS HAVE HUMAN RIGHTS.
- Jo, Surrey, 05/9/2011 07:37
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2033747/While-1m-homes-asylum-seekers-soldier-lost-limbs-tiny-sixth-floor-flat.html#ixzz1X3m0MFOa