‘Are they going to go around sniffing people?’ Big Issue founder says government has ‘lost the plot’ over homelessness plan
Big Issue founder Lord Bird says the government has “lost the plot” over proposed legislation which critics say criminalises homelessness.
He called the Criminal Justice Bill a “waste of time” that fails to stop people living and dying on the streets of the UK.
The bill contains provisions to allow police to forcibly move on “nuisance” rough sleepers, with criteria including creating “excessive smell” or “looking like they are intending to sleep on the streets”.
“How the hell are you going to enforce this?” said Lord Bird.
“You’re going to get the old bill [police] or the local security going out their sniffing people? This is just a waste of time.”
Lord Bird said it was “human rights abuse to let people live and die on our streets”.
“When it’s moved onto criminal justice issues, then you’ve lost the plot.”
He pointed to “the evils” of no-fault evictions as one cause of homelessness.
“Today there will be somebody falling into homelessness because the government hasn’t got off its rear and sorted out what it said it was going to do in 2019.”
Lord Bill recalled his experience of living on the streets as a young man, including being urinated on and sexually propositioned by the public.
“Anybody who falls onto the streets in a very short period of time becomes so traumatised that they actually become dehumanised.
“There’s nothing pretty about street life and therefore if people are behaving aggressively it’s because really they need the A&E department.”
Will the bill go through?
When the bill was introduced to parliament last year, Suella Braverman was still the home secretary.
She claimed at the time that rough sleeping was a “lifestyle choice”.
The government has pledged to bring in the Criminal Justice Bill before the next election, although it is currently making its way through the House of Commons – with MPs proposing amendments, including dozens of Tories, that may come to a vote later.
Yesterday, minister Gillian Keegan was asked about the matter as Tory MPs seek to strip the provision to detain someone based on odour.
Asked if people should be arrested if they smell, Ms Keegan said: “Well, no, people should not be arrested just if they smell.”
