Why Is the Government Decriminalising Rough Sleeping?
The decision to decriminalise rough sleeping attracted exactly the sort of reaction that you might expect from the right wing commentariat.
The former Olympic swimmer turned TERF, Sharron Davies, posted a photo of a homeless community in San Francisco and warned that this is the future that Britain had in store for itself.
It is always amazing how people who express anti-immigration sentiments on the basis that we should look after the native population then change their tune when it comes to actually doing something to help out.
Perhaps even more amazing is the notion that now rough sleeping has been decriminalised, people will be heading to their local High Street in droves to set up tents and sleeping bags. One is reminded of Suella Braverman's callous comments describing homelessness as a ‘lifestyle choice’.
The reality is that the law being repealed predates Victorian times and should have been scrapped a long time ago. It is about as effective as making ‘being poor’ illegal.
In fact, it is worse than that because the criminalisation of sleeping rough means that homeless individuals are less likely to seek out the support that is available to them.
Instead, they end up in a cycle where they get arrested for rough sleeping before eventually being released out onto the streets where they inevitably end up sleeping rough once again.
Changing the law will not break the cycle or magically solve the homelessness crisis, that will require much greater investment.
However, what it will do is free up police time to deal with more serious issues affecting communities, such as begging gangs and petty crime.
Homelessness remains a real challenge and the true effort will begin later on this year when the government's long-term homelessness strategy is published. In the meantime, the decision to decriminalise roughly sleeping should be seen as a positive step in the right direction.
The podcast makes a return this week.
We discuss rules around corporate insolvency and what happens when a company is restored to the register.
Episode link: https://uklawweekly.com/2025-uksc-18/
Make a difference today,
Marcus