{"id":344,"date":"2012-05-04T20:58:24","date_gmt":"2012-05-04T19:58:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/?p=344"},"modified":"2012-05-04T20:58:24","modified_gmt":"2012-05-04T19:58:24","slug":"bootneck-dumped-in-a-doss-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/?p=344","title":{"rendered":"Bootneck Dumped in a Doss House"},"content":{"rendered":"

War veteran:<\/h1>\n

After eight years serving my country I face life in a doss house while criminals get new homes<\/h1>\n
\"Michael<\/div>\n

ROYAL Marines war veteran Michael Glen has challenged David Cameron over a housing scandal which could leave him homeless.<\/p>\n

Father-of-three Michael, 30, from Prestonpans, East Lothian, is outraged to learn he will have fewer rights to housing when he leaves the forces this year than a criminal newly released from jail.<\/p>\n

Council chiefs say because he has volunteered to leave the forces rather than his post being cut, the only way to get a roof over his head is to book into a homeless hostel.<\/p>\n

He cannot return to the family home because he is estranged from his wife.<\/p>\n

Now Michael, who has done two tours of Afghanistan as a member of Arbroath-based 45 Commando, is demanding answers.<\/p>\n

He wrote in a letter to the PM: \u201cI have been on two tours of Afghanistan, risking my life daily avoiding bombs and bullets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is why I am leaving. I have three kids to support and I can\u2019t do that from a grave.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I am volunteering to leave, the council say they have no requirement to house me. This is absolutely disgusting \u2013 risk your life or be homeless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael, who is dad to Daniel, three, and Rachel, five months, from his marriage, and Kieran, 11, from a previous relationship, said: \u201cI never would have thought in a million years I would have to stay in a doss house after I left the Marines.<\/p>\n

Michael wants to settle in Prestonpans to be near his kids.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cWith the kids being so young, I think it is important I am close by.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/div>\n

He explained that he wrote to the PM out of sheer frustration, adding: \u201cDavid Cameron has made an awful lot of promises about making sure people in the forces aren\u2019t homeless. That\u2019s why I thought I\u2019d write to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

East Lothian MP Fiona O\u2019Donnell said: \u201cIt seems heartless to me that the council are ignoring Michael\u2019s service. I want the PM to intervene and show us that he is serious about looking after our veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local MSP Iain Gray said: \u201cThe council claim to provide extra support for veterans and should not quibble about why he is leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n

East Lothian Council said ex-service personnel without accommodation would be offered advice and assistance but those who volunteered to leave are not entitled to housing points.<\/p>\n

Michael’s letter to the Prime Minister<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear Prime Minister,<\/p>\n

My name is Michael Glen, I am a 30-year-old Royal Marines Commando who is about to leave the Corps after eight years. I have repeatedly encountered problems in regards to housing and I\u2019ve regularly been told at every obstacle: \u201cI don\u2019t make the rules.\u201d<\/p>\n

So this is why I\u2019m taking the time to write to you. As I never seem to be able to talk to the people who make the rules I think it\u2019s about time to darken your door.<\/p>\n

After noticing my money doesn\u2019t go as far as it should due to cutbacks and rising taxes, I take some comfort in knowing that this is all a requirement to get the country back into a decent financial situation. I back you on this.<\/p>\n

I have also listened to your Government repeatedly say how you are going to look after your troops. I do believe the proof is in the pudding I\u2019m just finding it difficult to find the pudding.<\/p>\n

The forces cuts may be a requirement and I\u2019m glad to see redundancies as it gets rid of all the dead wood.<\/p>\n

However, as I\u2019m about to leave the force, I took a lot of comfort from one of your ministers recently on Question Time who said no member of the armed forces will leave and be homeless. This is simply not true.<\/p>\n

I had a meeting with East Lothian Council last Friday in regards to getting social housing. I was told that I had no chance of getting a home unless I wait until my termination date in the Corps and go into a homeless hostel. This seems totally ridiculous to me.<\/p>\n

The lady I spoke to even told me to look at private letting. Unfortunately, as I\u2019m leaving my job, there is an element of insecurity and I could not commit to the extremely high rates of private letting.<\/p>\n

At the same meeting, I was informed if I had come out of prison I would be awarded 80 points and if I was homeless I would be awarded a further 100 points.<\/p>\n

I left with 12 points, four for each of my children who I have access to at weekends. I was awarded no points for service in the Royal Marines and was informed that had I been made redundant I would have been given 4 points for every year\u2019s service.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t take a genius to see what is wrong with this whole situation.<\/p>\n

I spent three years guarding nuclear submarines and nuclear warheads at Faslane. I have been on two operational tours of Afghanistan, risking my life daily avoiding bombs and bullets.<\/p>\n

This is why I am leaving. I have 3 kids to support and I can\u2019t do that from a grave.<\/p>\n

Because I\u2019m volunteering to leave, the local councils say they have no requirement to house me. I feel strongly that this is absolutely disgusting, risk your life or be homeless!!<\/p>\n

I just can\u2019t work it out in my head how I would have to do 20 years service to our country then be sacked to get the same rights as a waste of space leaving prison.<\/p>\n

Could you please shed some light on this for me. I would like to know what my rights are in regards to housing and not from a generic pamphlet.<\/p>\n

Thank you for taking the time to read this, I look forward to your reply.<\/p>\n

Michael Glen<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

War veteran: After eight years serving my country I face life in a doss house while criminals get new homes ROYAL Marines war veteran Michael Glen has challenged David Cameron over a housing scandal which could leave him homeless. Father-of-three … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-royal-marines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=344"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":346,"href":"https:\/\/foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344\/revisions\/346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foxnwolf.com\/locknload\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}