I read recently of an ex-soldier who had come upon hard times. I forget which part of the country he lives. He had gone through divorce, etc and had become homeless. He was in fact on a downward spiral, which could happen to anyone.

He was advised to approach his local council and ask for help, that is to be granted a council property. The advice given? “We cannot help you with housing because we only help drug addicts or alcoholics. You do not qualify.”

The irony here, surely, is that the ex soldier was probably a hair’s breadth away from that route. Surely those who have served Queen and country, whether having seen action or not, ought to take priority over those who infest pubs and parks.

Imagine demobilised troops returning home during both WW1 and WW2 seeking help from these bureaucrats. There would have been riots! And hangings, too, one would have imagined. One cannot blame the addicts, but the obnoxious, politically correct useless bureaucrats one certainly can. In the end a charity for army veterans stepped in.

The phrase, ‘the world turned upside down’ comes to mind.

Steve Nibbs Milton Road Swindon