A Return to Pre-Victorian Values
The priority this week for the government has been a crackdown on anti-social behaviour but rather than reforms, the legislative changes represent a return to the way things were 200 years ago.
A few years ago, government plans to repeal the Vagrancy Act 1824 were welcomed across the political spectrum. The antiquated legislation was a way of criminalising homelessness and poverty in a way that simply did not accord with modern values. Now, as the Act approaches its bicentennial, those same values are making a return more than ever before.