Stan Collymore rails against 'bigots' complaining about asylum seekers in Cannock
Football star turned pundit Stan Collymore has defended asylum seekers in Cannock and blamed the town's demise on its local residents.
Responding on X, formerly Twitter, to people blaming crime on the asylum seekers housed in , the former England star ranted about the 'bigotry' shown to 'people fleeing war'.
The former footballer also railed against Cannock's voters for the politicians they vote for in elections and for the residents who leave the house in their dressing gowns.
He tweeted: "I know my town better than anyone. Anyone. From local government to national representation.
"You know when Cannock people should have started paying attention? Not when people fleeing war stay in 2 hotels. We should have started paying attention when the sons and daughters of generations of Coal Miners (who in some of my mates cases were literally starving during the miners strike) continually voted for a party that has left our town in tatters."
He added: "The town centre is dead, go up to Park Road and see the line of people waiting for methadone as the town battles a major heroin problem, then look at the "shops" which now is vape /barber/poundshop on a loop, and then tell me with a straight face that Cannock voters aren't responsible for the state of the town but 200 brown people in 2 hotels are.
"People walking around town in f****g dressing gowns and slippers, local standards disappearing due to the chronic lack of investment in infrastructure and people in our town based on voting for parties contrary to our town's interests has turned chunks of it feral."
The mixed race star also pointed to the racial make up of the town he grew up in, and posted stories of crimes caused by Cannock's residents.
He said: "And we can't blame "them" because 97.4% of Cannock people are white. But hey, it's the 200 people in hotels fault. Only a bigot could blame people seeking asylum for the woes of a town which decided that decades of Tory government would make their town healthy, happy and productive but instead has left it a shell of the vibrant town it was many years ago.
"Blame yourself for once. Blame your vote. Blame yourself for giving liars, cheats, corrupt officials your thumbs up nationally."
In February a protest against the housing of asylum seekers in Cannock attraction national attention and Cannock Chase Conservative MP Amanda Milling asked ministers about the situation.