Dragon Interview: Council Leaders on Receiving Afghan Refugees and More

Published on: 27 Aug, 2021
Updated on: 27 Aug, 2021

By Martin Giles

What are Guildford and Waverley Borough Councils doing to prepare for the perception of Afghan refugees? This is the main question posed to the leaders of Guildford and Waverley Councils.

Both showed some frustration with the lack of information and assurance of financial support from central government.

On other subjects, the two leaders show they have a different view of the claim given by Surrey County Council leader, Tim Oliver, that his letter to the government on the piloting of a cost-saving “county deal” was just “a benign letter simply registering an interest”.

They also give an update on the GBC/WBC initiative to share council officer resources to save costs.

Please watch the interview here:

In the interview Paul Follows refers to a video he has made on receiving the Afghan refugees. It can be found here.

Responses to Dragon Interview: Council Leaders on Receiving Afghan Refugees and More

George Potter Reply

August 28, 2021 at 10:09 pm

In the video it says that our local MP, Angela Richardson, wasn’t able to take part in the interview because she was on holiday.

However, on the same day that this video was posted, Angela Richardson was tweeting about having spent time with parish councillors in Worplesdon to take part in a fitness event and discuss planning matters.

https://twitter.com/AJRichardsonMP/status/1431338731844349957

Are we sure Ms Richardson’s reason for dodging this interview was because she was on holiday? Or was it just perhaps the usual Tory tactic of making excuses to avoid media scrutiny on their record?

George Potter is a Lib Dem county and borough councillor.

Editor’s response: In the interview Martin Giles said that Ms Richardson had been invited to participate. She was on holiday at the time of the invitation. It was not known when should would return.