One fought for his country, while the other fled hers.

But the treatment of a former soldier who served in Afghanistan could not be more different to that of a refugee and her family fleeing the same place.

Lance Corporal Craig Baker, 26, and his family have been refused a council house in his home town as 'he has no local connection'.

Different treatment: L/Cpl Craig Baker and Agfhan refugee Toorpakai Saiedi (right)

Now the couple and their two young children are camping at his parents' three-bedroomed home in Bracknell, Berkshire - the house where L/Cpl Baker grew up.

His treatment is in stark contrast to that of an Afghan family who fled the Taliban and live on benefits as refugees, 30 miles away in London.

Mother-of-seven Toorpakai Saiedi, 37, was revealed to be living in a £1.2million seven-bedroom home in Acton, west London, which cost Ealing council £150,000 a year to rent.

Her son Jawad, said when the case was revealed two years ago said: 'When the council chose to put us here we did not say no.

‘If someone gave you a lottery jackpot would you leave it?'

The family had a 50in plasma TV, Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3 and plush silk furnishings, and received £170,000 per year in handouts.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1314918/Soldier-served-Afghanistan-refused-council-house-local.html#ixzz10W3mcFWS

Thats why I left 25 years ago its disgusting and one of thousands of similar cases

If you say anything against it be prepared to be called a racist bigot just like Gordon Brown called that lady when had the audacity to try and bring up the subject of immigrants

It would be intersting to know how much the goverment spend a month on the immerigrants ...

The daily mail whipping up far right nationalistic crap as usual I see. Nick Griffin must love those guys.

The daily mail whipping up far right nationalistic crap as usual I see. Nick Griffin must love those guys.

Its absolutely true mate and has been going on for years nothing new here

The daily mail whipping up far right nationalistic crap as usual I see. Nick Griffin must love those guys.

A couple of comments on the article

As expected:

"The only party that will do something about this are the British National Party. Continue to vote for the 3 left wing parties and you will get more of the same.

- Steve, Peterborough, 25/9/2010 9:54"

Rather more pertinent:

"Why are the pictures from a tour with RGBW, taken 5 years ago on PEACEKEEPING duties within Northern Afghanistan? Does he have no recent ones or are these the most 'warry' he has due to his last tour being within the wire of Camp Bastion witht the Army Air Corps?

This individual would have known for 1 year that he was leaving the forces, he should have got off of his backside and sorted accommodation within that time. Now he is running to the media because all he has left is that he is a former soldier. The army would discipline him for this sort of attention seeking if he was still serving.

- Soldier, Bracknell, 25/9/2010 15:40"

The daily mail whipping up far right nationalistic crap as usual I see.

So you're saying they should keep quiet about it ?

Irrespective of the reasons why the ex-soldier didn't get a house, I certainly want to know about the Gov't wasting money as much as that on ANY family, not just a refugee family. A time has got to come when people on benefits should be made to contribute somehow. I.E. doing some menial tasks. Plenty of chewing gum on the pavements!!

The daily mail whipping up far right nationalistic crap as usual I see. Nick Griffin must love those guys.

As usual. Why is a common soldier always referred to as a "hero" by the right? The word has lost much of it's meaning since 9/11.

And where is the sense in comparing the beneficence (or lack thereof) of two entirely seperate councils? They have different budgets, different populations etc.

The refugee's story was 2 years ago too....is she still living with the reported benefits now?

Hard to know exactly what the real story is from this sensationalist piece.

But to be fair, I do think that charity should start at home.

The daily mail whipping up far right nationalistic crap as usual I see. Nick Griffin must love those guys.

As usual. Why is a common soldier always referred to as a "hero" by the right? The word has lost much of it's meaning since 9/11.

And where is the sense in comparing the beneficence (or lack thereof) of two entirely seperate councils? They have different budgets, different populations etc.

The refugee's story was 2 years ago too....is she still living with the reported benefits now?

Hard to know exactly what the real story is from this sensationalist piece.

It's the usual Daily Mail shit-stirring. The Daily Mail is the newspaper whose proprietor in 1934 (Lord Rothermere) wrote an article entitled "Hurrah for the Blackshirts" praising Oswald Mosley for his "sound, commonsense, Conservative doctrine".

He also wrote an editorial called "Youth Triumphant" praising Hitler which was subsequently used by the Nazis as propaganda.

Nothing much has changed.

The daily mail whipping up far right nationalistic crap as usual I see.

So you're saying they should keep quiet about it ?

Irrespective of the reasons why the ex-soldier didn't get a house, I certainly want to know about the Gov't wasting money as much as that on ANY family, not just a refugee family.

Absolutely, so why did they choose a refugee family?

A refugee case from two years ago in fact. I am sure that they could have found an example of a British family getting the same treatment in benefits much more recently, so why opt for a case from two years ago?

I think we all know the answer. Mail readers in general are either unwilling or unable to read the the sensationalism and soak it all up. It really is all so transparent and predictable. This made me think of the BNP straight away, hence my Nick Griffin comment, and low and behold a pro-BNP comment can be found in the comments section.

Don't get me wrong, I've worked all my life and can't stand those who want a free ticket. It's just a crappy situation that papers take advantage of by twisting and sensationalising to sell more papers.