Homelessness Minister Accused Of Racist Remarks About Rough Sleepers

The homelessness minister, Heather Wheeler, has apologised after leaked emails showed her using “racist” language to describe rough sleepers before she joined the government. In an email sent in October 2017 to a homeless charity three months before she became minister, the Conservative MP for South Derbyshire described rough sleepers in her constituency as “the traditional type, old tinkers, knife-cutters wandering through”. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jun/20/homelessness-minister-accused-of-racist-remarks-in-email

Grenfell Council Officers Accused Of ‘Racism Or Snobbery – Take Your Pick’

In an extraordinary address to the Commons, MP for Kensington & Chelsea Emma Dent Coad has accused officers of Kensington and Chelsea Council of “racism or snobbery – take your pick” during a debate on the response to the Grenfell disaster. The House heard Dent Coad pledge to continue exposing the council’s “duplicity and blatant lies, incompetence and cover-ups.” She catalogued examples of a “feudal” attitude officers – some senior –  took towards residents of Grenfell and its surrounds, including:

·         “It’s like Little Africa down there” and “it’s full of people from the Tropics”

·         References to residents as “Muzzies”

·         Warnings of Kensington and Chelsea becoming an “Islamic Caliphate”

·         Money spent on mental health dismissed by “they all look fine to me”

Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/grenfell-council-officers-accused-of-racism-or-snobbery-take-your-pick/