‘I needed help, I was thrown out’: British Army veteran exposes wall of silence after ‘being evicted to make way for Afghan migrants'

Cook applied to retain his service family accommodation in May 2023 but was rejected. He said the retention scheme "is at the discretion of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation" but he had hoped for support during the financial crisis.

The veteran said he initially accepted the rejection, believing it was for service reasons. "The needs of the service come first," he stated.

Cook's situation changed dramatically in September 2023. "All of a sudden, a large quantity of Afghan nationals show up on the estate and occupy a large quantity of the houses that weren't occupied," he told GB News.

This development forced Cook and his family to move during Christmas. "This led to me being out and moving over at Christmas time with my family and any options of support gone," he said.

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Cook attempted to seek answers from his local MP Danny Kruger but received no response until after he had already vacated the property.

"Danny Kruger didn't reply to me until after the problem had gone. I was out of the house and he replied saying to get in touch but the problem had gone," Cook explained.

The Afghan nationals arriving on Cook's estate were part of a secret government scheme revealed this week after a High Court lifted a superinjunction.

The scheme was established following a catastrophic data breach in February 2022 when a British official accidentally leaked personal details of nearly 19,000 Afghans who had worked with UK forces.

The breach wasn't discovered until August 2023, prompting the creation of the Afghan Response Route scheme. Defence Secretary John Healey confirmed on Tuesday that 4,500 Afghans have already been relocated to the UK under the initiative, with the total expected to reach nearly 7,000.

The scheme has cost £400 million so far, with total costs projected to reach £850 million. At one stage, 20 per cent of MoD property was allocated to housing those in the scheme.

Cook described the lack of planning for the new arrivals. "There was no plan to embed, no plan to integrate. One day it was service personnel then it was groups of males, females and children hanging around the streets," he said.

He observed food stations being set up on the estate for the Afghan nationals. "We didn't know where they had come from and we saw they had food stations as well. That part of the estate was taken by Afghan nationals," Cook told GB News.

The veteran expressed concerns about the financial implications of the scheme. "It is going to take billions. There are no jobs. They aren't paying rent," he said, questioning the long-term sustainability of the relocation programme.