The home secretary, Suella Braverman, has described rough sleeping as a “lifestyle choice” while defending her decision to restrict the use of tents by homeless people on the streets of Britain.

According to Whitehall insiders, Braverman plans to crack down on tents that cause a nuisance in urban areas such as high streets – amid growing numbers of rough sleepers and what the government considers a rise in antisocial behaviour.

The home secretary has also proposed the introduction of a civil offence, which could lead to charities being fined if they provide homeless people with tents, the Financial Times reported.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Braverman defended her proposals, saying: “The British people are compassionate. We will always support those who are genuinely homeless. But we cannot allow our streets to be taken over by rows of tents occupied by people, many of them from abroad, living on the streets as a lifestyle choice.

“Unless we step in now to stop this, British cities will go the way of places in the US like San Francisco and Los Angeles, where weak policies have led to an explosion of crime, drug-taking, and squalor.

  • Striker@lemmy.worldOP
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    1 year ago

    If most people are not ok with this then explain why the tories have such a death grip on the electorate. Most people in the UK will just shrug their shoulders few will actually have the balls to say they support this. These same people are outraged with Corbyn doesn’t sing God save the queen but are alright with literally making giving homeless people tents illegal. Try to suggest any social programme and grandpa will break out the fucking abacus but fuck the homeless I guess.

    • ThePenitentOne
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      1 year ago

      All you need to know is most people don’t give a shit about anything not directly threatening their way of life in immediate terms. Once you understand how pathetic people are, it becomes all the more obvious why things are allowed to be this way and not change. A lot of people don’t even care to put in the effort to learn or expand their knowledge of things at all.