Gary Lineker: Yorkshire councillor criticises Gary Lineker and BBC before accepting £2m to house refugees

Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet met for the final time before the council is abolished a week on Friday. They were meeting to approve the council accepting a £2m grant from the government’s Local Authority Housing Fund to buy homes for refugees to live in.

At the meeting earlier this week, Councillor Graham Swift said “amazingly good things” done by the government, such as the housing fund, are ignored by the media.

He said: “One of the frustrating things about being a councillor in Harrogate is the amazing good things that are done by the Conservative government. This is another example – £100m putting into the aid of people who need it most.

“Yet it’s ignored by the Gary Linekers of the world, the BBCs of the world and media organisations in Harrogate who aspire to operate under the same principles as the BBC.”

His comments were backed by Conservative council leader Richard Cooper who added: “It doesn’t fit with the narrative sometimes.”

This month Match of the Day host Gary Lineker criticised the government over its small boats policy and compared the language it has used to what was said during Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

A major storm followed that saw the former England striker removed then reinstated from his role as host of the Saturday night show on BBC One.

How many homes for refugees will be bought?

In the Harrogate district, just over £2 million will go towards buying 19 homes for Ukrainians and just under £500,000 will help buy two larger four-bedroom homes for Afghan families currently in temporary accommodation.

The LAHF grant will be managed by housing association Broadacres, which will identify and buy the homes with the council’s approval. They will then be refurbished by the housing association so they can meet the decent homes standards.

The government says all homes should be bought and ready to be moved into by November this year.