General Chat

I have just received an e-mail from Change .org asking me to sign a petition against the proposal of Worthing Town Council to criminalize homelessness.

They have, it seems, recently needed to close homeless shelters due to lack of resources.

The e-mail argues that criminalizing the homeless is a step too far and very cruel but I think it might be more of a pragmatic step. There is no point in fining people with no money so they will be in contempt of court whilst re-offending so will be eligible for incarceration.

This will, of course, give them a warm place off the streets for a while but it will also push responsibiility on to other authorities.

I am really not sur whether I should sign this one or not because there is evidently much more to it than meets the eye.

Go on then, what do you think?

Unless there are sufficient places to house the homeless, it shouldnt be criminalised.
Even then, you'd need to look at the underlying reasons why they've found themselves in that situation.

Mental illness (so called Care in the Community)
Addiction- drink. drugs, gambling etc.
(Mind you, some people don't want or have the strength to be 'helped' )
The vicious cycle of no home = no job opportunities = no home.
Square peg in a round hole.

Most of us have probably seen local newspaper reports where someone has been evicted. They've then turned down emergency accommodation because their pets aren't accepted.
Another group recent were camping under a viaduct then given temporary accommodation with the promise it would permanent. The temporary council funded leases are coming to an end. They are back under the viaduct.

It's difficult to help people get off addictions while they're homeless, they need something to get them through life.
Also, don't forget, not all homeless people are drug addicts!!
In Europe, there are more empty homes than there are homeless.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/23/europe-11m-empty-properties-enough-house-homeless-continent-twice

Edit: Homelessness is only going to get worse, now people under 25 can legally be paid a pittance, and housing benefit for single people under 35 is very restricted.

But I am wondering if this is not really about the individuals in question but about forcing away of reviewng the way homelessness is being dealt with because the current method is clearly not working.

Another reason could be that the Borough of Worthing are trying to get them to 'move on'.

I agree with you, Det. In Winchester, they proposed putting concrete bollards in the doorways of empty shops, to stop the homeless sheltering there.
They obviously thought removing the homeless was more important than focussing on WHY there are so many sleeping rough, and why so many shops are empty
:-S

The idea was (thankfully) overruled.

By the same token, this same Council thought it worthwhile to spend £35k on persuading people to talk to one another when they passed on the South Downs :-|

No-one - neither Councils nor Government want to deal with the homeless problem, and criminalising someone because they've been evicted, couldn't pay the bedroom tax, left a marriage, left home because they were being abused, or are a returning soldier with mental health problems (over 9000 homeless people are ex soldiers), smacks of fascism.

I should check up what is really happening, I'm fed up of e-mails saying things that aren't true or a distortion of the truth. Check with Google to see if there's info - there is looks like it's not the whole story you have been sent.

https://www.juicebrighton.com/news/brighton-news/1921688/dont-criminalise-worthings-homeless/

There are still homeless people, though Pat, and nothing appears to be being done to resolve the issue.

scary idea


one step from getting rid of people

I agree Maggie about homelessness. I am ex-service and I know a high proportion are ex-servicemen/women.There should be something in each area that the homeless can access.

We have been having some very right wing e-mails recently, I'm getting very sceptical.

e.g. recently we had 1 from a friend how a certain religious minority in UK were stopping all history being told of the Holocaust in UK. I had to point out to friend about the annual Holocaust Day (27th January) in schools and the fact he lived only 2 villages away from the National Holocaust Centre.

The Beth Shalom Holocaust Centre is in Laxton Nottinghamshire, very close to where I used to live.

People believe e-mails that friends send them and send them on therefore perpetuating the stories. I now always check out their validity.

I sometimes wonder who starts them and the reason behind it. I believe that some of the stories are a deliberate attempt to stir up religious/racial hatred.

I just want people to check the stories out first, then it's up to them what they do about them.

:-)

As the partner of an ex-serviceman I am going to write something that will probably stir up a hornets nest of controversy.

Many, like him, he joined up to get away from his mother,join up more for security and order than from an overwhelming desire to serve their country or put themselves in danger.

They know that, in return for their work, they will be fed and housed and that the price of that will be deducted from their wages before they see it although I am not sure that applies to their food now. They do not need to now how to deal with those things.

It has taken my OH years to come to terms with organizing his life and, more especially, his finances. Others I know, who have married ex-military men, have just the same problem with them, even if they do always have nice shiny shoes.

At a time when we, who have never been in the forces, were learning about how the world works and what we need to do to get by, those in the forces were learning military stuff we could not understand.

Casting them out into the world when their time of service is finished is not so very different from sending the rest of us into battle armed with our military knowledge. Think how ell we would cope with that!

The services now have pay as you eat Sharon. Out here many eat away from their mess and use local cafes/restaurants.

Although my OH spent almost 25 years in the RAF we bought our own house quite early on so we had a foot in both camps.

I have however seen what you write about Sharon. A RAF Warrant Officer (top non - commissioned rank) retired just before we bought our house. He retired to the next town to our camp. He spent his days riding his bike around the town as he didn't know what to do. He couldn't talk to civvies as he only talked about his job and knew very little about the outside world. He joined at 16 and left at 55 and he had been totally institutionalized.

I swore we'd never do that and we decided we were definitely going to live away from 'the job'. It worked for us I'm glad to say.

Like your OH you have to be there to appreciate how it happens. In the forces there is always someone to pick you up when you are down and help you through any problem. People you don't know will step up and help as they may have a problem next week. I think what they miss most is the camaraderie.

Men and women sleep rough in squats, tents, cars, parks, bins, flimsy sleeping bags in shop doorways – all unimaginable spaces in our capital city and beyond.

A national embarrassment. :-|