Empty MOD properties could be used to house evacuees from Afghanistan, a Wiltshire MP has revealed.

Devizes MP, Danny Kruger, who represents the largest concentration of military bases in the UK, has been in contact with Leader of Wiltshire Council, Cllr Richard Clewer, over what the county can do to help those fleeing the Taliban regime.

As Wiltshire has "a lot of empty MOD properties", there is a chance families leaving Afghanistan could be housed there, the Conservative MP revealed in a post on his website.

The UK Government has committed to taking in 20,000 refugees over the next five years, with 5,000 expected to be welcomed into the country this year. 

Cllr Clewer has previously said "at least two families" will be offered houses in the county, "and there may be more in due course".

What the post says

In a post on his website, Mr Kruger, a Conservative MP, said he had received a message from Cllr Clewer claiming that Wiltshire "stood ready to support as many Afghans as we can".

According to the MP, Cllr Clewer also pointed that Wiltshire has "a lot of empty MOD properties which could be used to house the evacuees". 

"I raised this in a call with the Defence Secretary yesterday (Tuesday) who welcomed the offer from Wiltshire and confirmed that officials are working hard to make MOD houses available for Afghan families," Mr Kruger said.

'Traumas will live forever'

In his post, Mr Kruger also offered his thoughts on the current crisis.

He said: "Over the last 20 years thousands of men and women left Wiltshire to fight in Afghanistan. Some never returned and many more returned with injuries and traumas that will live with them forever.

"I thought of them and their families as I sat through seven hours of debate in the House of Commons today on the situation in Afghanistan and the lessons we need to learn.

"I was pleased to hear a commitment from the government to increase the support available to veterans, including mental health services."

Mr Kruger said that he has "no special insight into the causes of the crisis", but said that with hindsight, the UK and the US have left Afghanistan as they arrived 20 years ago: "suddenly, shockingly, and apparently without a full appreciation of the impact of our actions on a complicated society".

He added: "This doesn’t mean we should never have gone in, or that we should never have left. It means we - or our leaders, and the US in particular - needed both more humility and more resolve.

"The humility to know the limits of our power, and the resolve to see the job through - particularly on the political and civilian side, where we needed to stand stronger and for longer with those Afghans building a country free from corruption."

To read the post in full, click here. 

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