A SENIOR Basildon councillor has come under fire for “outdated and offensive” remarks after he raged over pandemic measures to feed school children and house rough sleepers.

In leaked emails shared between Conservative councillors in June 2020, Conservative councillor Kevin Blake, deputy leader of the council, labelled the government policies as “socialist”.

Launched in response to the pandemic, the government’s Everyone In scheme saw more than 37,000 homeless people moved into emergency accommodation.

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The Burstead councillor has defended the comments and insists he was not forced out of the Conservative group as a result.

In a group-wide chain email seen by the Echo, he said.: “Is it me or [sic] we have a socialist Government.

“Apart from giving free school meals even when their [sic] not at school we have now given ANOTHER £105m to rough sleepers putting them up in hotels.

“I work bloody hard to afford to go to hotels why the hell should they be given free accommodation.

“Don’t say so they keep social distancing because that’s rubbish they are still begging in our shop doorways.”

A Conservative group source labelled the remarks “outdated, inappropriate and offensive”.

Defending the comments, Mr Blake told the Echo: “I did make those comments.

“I firmly believe that certainly with the begging, I had no problem with them going in hotels, what I had a problem with was that they were still on street corners and should have been working.”

Mr Blake, who insists he faced no disciplinary action and was only advised to undertake diversity and sensitivity training, said his position on free school meals had changed.

“With the meals, things have got harder because of the rising costs of gas and electric, so the situation now has change in that sense,” he said.

“But generally, we pay a lot of taxes, and I don’t have any children, so I’m already paying tax for other people’s children.”

Mr Blake, responsible for environment and carbon reduction, quit the Conservative group in July, 2021, after 28 years as a Tory, and just one month after making the comments.

He returned to the Conservative group just over a year later.