LBC radio presenter James O’Brien shared his concerns with listeners following the backlash from the unearthed Afghan resettlement scheme
LBC presenter James O’Brien sparked outrage on his morning radio show as he shared his concerns following warnings of “potential riots” to the secret Aghan resettlement scheme. On Tuesday (July 17), a superinjunction was lifted which revealed that the identities of 25,000 Afghans, including soldiers who had worked with UK forces in the country and their families, had been accidentally leaked. Their identities were leaked after a blunder by the British military back in February 2022.
The leak soon prompted ministers to evacuate more than 4,500 Afghan soldiers and their relatives and relocate them in the UK under the Afghanistan Response Route scheme. A further 2,400 people are eligible for the government scheme and are awaiting travel to the UK.
LBC star James O’Brien has shared his concerns following the secret Afghan resettlement scheme (Image: X/Twitter)
The Afghans have been housed in military accommodation and hotels across Britain at an eye-watering cost of £400million, with a further total of £7billion earmarked for later developments.
However, the previous Conservative government managed to successfully obtain a superinjunction that blocked the news from reaching media outlets, leaving the public confused about the sudden influx of migrants across the country.
Now, a Whitehall briefing note which circulated on July 4 and was seen by The Telegrah, warned that when the injunction was lifted the Ministry of Defence would need to “work with colleagues across the Government… to mitigate any risk of public disorder following the discharge of the injunction.”
After the news hit the headlines, the 53-year-old broadcaster accused “Nigel Farage and his mates” for covering up the scheme. He told listeners: “I think they covered it up because the Tories created a population that was so enraged – with the help of Nigel Farage and his mates and created a population that was so enraged by the existence of any refugee, any asylum seeker.
He accused Nigel Farage of “covering up” the scheme (Image: PA)
“I think they covered it up because they didn’t want to be the people that had to tell the public we were going to look after 24,000 people who had potentially risked their lives to look after our boys in Afghanistan.
“Even today is being warned about potential riots because we may have to house people that helped our soldiers fight against the Taliban.” The dad-of-two welcomed a political correspondent onto the show to discuss the risk of riots over the next few days.
They informed listeners: “There are concerns that it might spill out into public disorder. Now 15 of the 20 hotspots for the disorder, the local authorities, it was the top 20% of local authorities in terms of the number of asylum seekers which are being supported and Afghan resettlement arrivals.
“So I think we have a very serious problem on our hands here.” James then left viewers with a few questions to think about how the country has evolved in recent years particularly towards immigrants moving to the UK.
He asked: “Why on earth has the narrative, the discourse surrounding this story, already lurched into language like smuggling and migrants? When, in fact, it’s allies and duty that we should be talking about.
“What’s happened to us that allows this story to turn into the toxic poison I’m reading in most of my newspapers today? And which is leading government ministers to probably rightly conclude that it could lead to more riots?
“Doing right by people who did their duty by us could lead to riots on the streets of this country.” It didn’t take long before fans flooded to X – formerly known as Twitter – to share their concerns online.
Some listeners agreed with the radio host, with one posting: “The most despicable man in modern Britain” as another agreed: “Eff my life… I’m finding myself agreeing with O’Brien [shrugging emoji].”
A third listener argued: “Why anyone would be annoyed about genuine asylum seekers is beyond me. These Afghans were clearly in danger and needed help.” Meanwhile, one user asked: “Why was the government hiding this s**t if there’s nothing wrong with it?”
Another chimed in with: “I don’t agree with riots, but we should definitely be peacefully protesting in large numbers.” A third wrote: “They are taking advantage apparently 2,800 of them??? That’s ridiculous, it’s them plus their large families.”
