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It Beggars Belief...

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sp1814 | 09:15 Fri 08th Apr 2016 | News
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Worthing council are to fine homeless people who beg £50:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/conservative-council-set-to-fine-homeless-people-50-for-begging-in-worthing-a6971476.html

Is this the best way to tackle the problem?

...and on a practical level...exactly how will homeless people pay the fine. Will they have their assets seized? How much money can be raised from the sale of dirty sleeping bags, string and a mangy dog?
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I would say it's aimed at professional beggars.
A bit like economic migrants masquerading as refugees ... you get quite well of people masquerading as beggars. It dampens your sympathy for the genuine people in need.

There should be somewhere that the genuine homeless can go for help rather than beg on the street.
Ummmm, it doesn't say anything about professional beggars in the report. This is about the most unfortunate people here being punished for terrible circumstances. It shouldn't happen.
Talbot, I agree there should be somewhere for the homeless to go for help. People shouldn't be be forced to sleep on the streets in a developed country.
Well they can't get blood out of a stone. The genuine homeless won't be able to pay.

Something wrong here.....somewhere!

Post World War 2 50's and 60's, the homeless, foodbanks and tramps were not a big deal.....occasional, but not a national issue.

Now after over half a century of alternative Conservative and Labour Governments plus the Welfare State ( we will look after you from birth to the grave) we have a national outcry.
Good point sqad. Maybe a factor though is that family would have looked after people a bit better in the 1950s. There must be something else at play here though. I've always wondered what would happen if a homeless person went to the council/job centre- would they be told to sleep on the streets or would they be given help. It's not justa UK problem though- I've seen it in many parts of Europe and the US
Yes. That's the answer. Fine them £50 . they can't pay. Lo ck them in the cells awaiting trial .at least they will be warm, fed, and safe. Win win.
Worth watching to the end, you never know, I always give.
Sqad

/// Now after over half a century of alternative Conservative and Labour Governments plus the Welfare State ( we will look after you from birth to the grave) we have a national outcry. ///

Plus the influx of millions of immigrants all due to Labour's mass immigration programme, and the EU open door policy.

We should put a halt to all unnecessary immigration, and start building affordable homes.

//A council committee has recommended the Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) for approval at a council meeting later this month, in a move branded "disgusting" by local campaigners.

Introduced in 2014, PSPOs are commonly described as "ASBOs for public places". They enable councils to criminalise normally legal actions within a given area.//

....since when has begging been made legal? whilst the vagrancy act is rarely enforced it's still the case that people can already be arrested for begging without PSPO orders.
Rough sleeping in London has increased 16% in the last year alone, according to Chain. Almost half of those doing so in 2014/15 were European, with 36% from central and eastern Europe and 10% from other EU countries. The proportion of British nationals among the capital’s homeless population has fallen over the past two years from 47% to 43%.

Many eastern Europeans they see are economic migrants, who come to Britain to work, but are unskilled or ill-prepared. Others are vulnerable individuals or victims of what Salva describes as “soft trafficking”, in which people have been coerced or misled into coming to Britain by the promise of employment. A third group, who come to the UK temporarily to send money back home, see living on the streets as a way of cutting costs.
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I have some contact with a charity in Bridlington, which gets people off the street. I've been told that there has been about a 70% increase in homeless last year. Quite a few are ex-servicemen. It could happen to any one of us.

Emergency accommodation is hard to find. Worthing council would do better to convert some of the almost derelict property they are bound to own (all councils do) into hostels with tiny, but safe rooms.

As long as the homeless are just sitting there quietly, I don't see that they are doing anything wrong, but as anneasquith comments, if arrested they at least get a night off the streets.
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AOG

I assume from your answer at 10:15, that I will no longer be castigated by you for hijacking any more of your threads?
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divebuddy

I agree...I just don't think that fining homeless people is going to be the deterrent that this council wants.
People here in Worthing are horrified at this suggestion.
sp1814

I have not high jacked your thread as you wrongly stated, my post was obviously a little uncomfortable for you, but it was still on the subject of the homeless.
There was a case a few years ago where this beggar was driving into town in his nice car and suit ; then changing into knackered clothing , then going on to his pitch, for his daily begging

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