[Politics] Bill Of Rights for the homeless in Brighton!!

Bakero said:

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DavidinSouthampton said:

I heard a Borough Councillor locally - not in the Borough of Eastleigh, where I live, but a neighbouring Borough - say that you don't need to be homeless in xxxxxxx, it's a lifestyle choice.

That is absolute rowlocks, and the majority of people in the meeting told him so in no uncertain terms.

And I've already posted elsewhere that people who are begging are quite possibly, or even probably, not homeless. Those who are genuinely homeless are quite possibly too proud, nervous or frightened to beg.

And why are people homeless. You mention ex-service personnel, mental health issues etc. Young kids get thrown out of the family home for no good reason sometimes. People lose jobs and can't keep up the mortgage. People get migrated to Universal Credit, lower payments, can't afford their rent any more and get evicted.

Many people are very ignorant about these issues..... and I don't mean ignorant as an insult, but purely in its meaning of "not knowing".

But it's still also true that "There is none so blind as he (or she) who will not see". It should be more "There but for the Grace of God go I."

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Bakero said:

Those of us that have 'done one' will still be affected by Brexit.

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DavidinSouthampton said:

People's ability to go and live elsewhere will be somewhat limited, it will be a lot more difficult. That's part of the problem

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The Gem said:

You don't know that yet.

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DavidinSouthampton said:

Fair enough, but it's likely.

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Knocky's Nose said:

Back to the topic of the homeless - not fecking Brexit....

I walked through Eastbourne town centre this morning at 8.30am. I'd say that in the half mile I walked, one in four shop doorways had someone either sleeping in it or packing up their things before the shop opened. I've never seen it this bad.

It's really difficult to know how I feel about them. I'd say 1 in 10 looks genuinely 'decent' and looks deserving of help - and I think 'I'd love to know your story. How you got here, and why?'. The rest look like horrible little skanks who wouldn't want help anyway - just cash... and as much as you have, thank you. They'd then piss off and buy drugs or booze with it, and happily repeat the cycle on a daily basis.

I think giving the homeless 'rights' is total cobblers. You're championing a cause for people who in the main don't give a bollocks about rights. They probably feel they system has failed them, so they've given up anyway. Give them a bed for the night. Somewhere safe and warm. I think that's what they'd prefer?

So difficult to know and judge. I think that if someone is intelligent and wants to get out of the cycle of homelessness they are in - they deserve help. Proper help. Immediate help. Not forms to fill in and hoops to jump through, being confused and fobbed off. Get these people back on track.

For the feckless and lazy who just stick their hands out and take, how about the council do something whereupon they can have a small room, a bed, heating and safety in exchange for some work? Is there room for a modern and decent 21st Century version of the 'workhouse' - where someone can at least start to rebuild their lives, work on their addictions, and at least get out of the cycle they are in? It works for prisons where they make things / manufacture things / pack things and so on, why not adapt that model?

Something can be done, I'm sure. Not every homeless person is a lost cause - they just need a starting point.

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lawros left foot said:

Veteran Support UK say a conservative estimate of those sleeping rough 13,000 are ex- service personnel suffering from PTSD, and the drug and drink problems that are often a consequence of the condition.

Walk a mile in their shoes before you judge, your ire would be better spent on the political lick spittles who allow this state of affairs to continue.

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Knocky's Nose said:

Is there room for a modern and decent 21st Century version of the 'workhouse' - where someone can at least start to rebuild their lives, work on their addictions, and at least get out of the cycle they are in? It works for prisons where they make things / manufacture things / pack things and so on, why not adapt that model?

Something can be done, I'm sure. Not every homeless person is a lost cause - they just need a starting point.

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pastafarian said:

Where are you getting these very high figures of rough sleepers from? If the rough sleepers numbers contain 13000 ex servicemen the full total of rough sleepers must be astronomical.
The figures i have read from homeless.org had a snapshot of rough sleepers in autumn 2017 of 4,751 people
(they seem to agree with the data provided by local authorities)

https://www.homeless.org.uk/facts/homelessness-in-numbers/rough-sleeping/rough-sleeping-our-analysis

These figures are for England only, but even if you included rough sleepers in other parts of the UK, a huge number simply missed by numerous monitoring charities and even a large % increase since autumn 2017 i cant see it getting anywhere near the rough sleeper numbers you are quoting.

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