I’m grateful for JonMC over at Harry’s Place for bringing this story to my attention.

According to GB News a British forces veteran who is in housing need was asked by the homelessness charity Shelter to give a personal statement. This he did but was asked to add an addendum talking positively about ‘refugees’ and migrants.

GB News said:

A homeless veteran has been told by a rough sleeping charity to defend migrants receiving housing in his personal testimony.

The former soldier, who served Britain in Eastern Europe, responded to the charity, Shelter’s, appeal last December inviting Britons to share their experiences of homelessness.

He submitted a detailed account covering his military service, post-traumatic stress disorder, homelessness, emergency accommodation and a legal dispute with his local council.

Shelter initially praised the veteran’s account, which made no reference to immigrants, telling him it was “exactly the sort of story they were looking for”.

Weeks later, however, he received a follow-up message from the taxpayer-funded charity asking him to add lines defending the housing of migrants within his testimony.

The email, seen by the Mail on Sunday, said: “One thing we need to be mindful of is that (for some reason) people conflate veterans being homeless with migrants ‘getting homes’, so we’d need to address this in the post.

“You could either write something we can include or we could add something at the end like, ‘We need social homes. Everything else, putting the blame on migrants, so-called “affordable” homes that are not actually affordable, telling people to “save up and buy” is unacceptable. Only social home building will end homelessness’.”

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the veteran said it was “an attempt to turn [his] personal experience into political propaganda”.

He said: “What I find particularly troubling is that this was not a message I had wanted incorporated – I had approached Shelter to tell my own personal story, after being encouraged by them to do so, and had trusted them with a detailed and deeply personal account of experiences I found difficult to revisit.

“Yet a political issue concerning migrants was subsequently introduced, and I was forced to promote a particular message within the story.”

“I regard that as an attempt to turn my personal experience into political propaganda that I had never consented to.”

The Shelter organisation in my opinion has always leaned a little to the Left in its worldview but this story shows that it’s not been completely captured by both the far Left and Open Borders freaks. It does look as if Shelter have used a man’s personal story as political propaganda and tried to put words in the man’s mouth. Shelter have since apologised to the veteran so make of that what you will.

I’ve long ago ceased to donate or support the Shelter organisation, although I used to on occasion, because of its tendency to lean Left but I now have an even greater determination to not support this organisation now that this attempt to use a veteran’s personal story as pro-migration propaganda. I wonder if this sort of sharp practice is confined to some rogue employees of Shelter or is it something that has broader organisational support within the Shelter organisation? I wonder also if other organisations in the charitable sector are also taking people’s personal stories, which they often use to solicit donations from the public and turning them into left wing and Open Borders propaganda? I believe that this matter deserves to be investigated further by those activists with an interest in keeping charities politically honest.

Link

GB News article on the alleged attempt to make open borders propaganda out of a veteran’s personal testimony.

https://www.gbnews.com/news/woke-madness-homeless-veteran-charity-shelter