London's homeless paid to move to Brighton for Olympics

[Discodoktor]

how does this work then?

I'm back in the country over summer and wouldn't mind my train fare to Brighton being paid. Do I just show up and look a bit scruffy?

To help tell them you are on heroin then you will get somewhere stay as well. Don't say cannabis no one will look after you. How much help you get depends on how much society will tolerate you being on the street. Needless to say if you are 21-40 male who doesn't take drugs, then you might struggle to get train fare.

 

[Falkor]

They shouldnt be given money, they should be given a voucher for the railway, the money will just go on booze and drugs if given cash

 

[robinsonsgrin]

a woman i used to know worked in worthing with the homeless. to gain figures for how many were sleeping rough she had to go and count the people - she was NOT allowed to include anyone who was SITTING UP, only if they were horizontal. talk about massaging the numbers. one hopes this has now changed as this was 5 yrs ago... but i think unlikely.

 

[Springal]

No problem, Ukraine authorities culled a load of stray dogs to make the place more enjoyable for visitors.

 

[Nibble]

So, you're suggesting that the government are offering the homeless people a choice. There's a paid train fare if they want it? Do you think the other countries mentioned in this thread gave anyone a choice?

Sorry, I'm not sure what you're asking here?

 

[Nibble]

To help tell them you are on heroin then you will get somewhere stay as well. Don't say cannabis no one will look after you. How much help you get depends on how much society will tolerate you being on the street. Needless to say if you are 21-40 male who doesn't take drugs, then you might struggle to get train fare.

Trust me, heroin users don't get anywhere need the help they need, especially not beds for the night.

 

[withdeanwombat]

Brighton HAS gone downhill if they have to pay the homeless to go there,and what events are in these homeless olympics ? Is Lord Coe i/c ticketing ?

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

So you give a homeless person a trainfare from London to Brighton and you expect they'd see the priority as buying a train ticket, come on.

 

[Hastings woody]

Yep, standard practice as already stated. Also, in Athens there was a massive cull of stray dogs.

Be easier just to cull the homeless. and the dogs.

 

[LU7 RED]

It was actually Bournemouth I was talking about.

Our most famous tramp, Gordon, is a regular at Dean Court - I think he must be easily pleased!

Seriously though, you need to get a tramp at the Amex. Every ground should have one

 

[Drumstick]

I had heard this too, but sometime ago maybe 6 months or so.

 

[beorhthelm]

i certainly wouldnt put it past a government, especially local council, to do somthing like this. however i'd question the legitimacy of the story on the detail. you wouldnt give a homeless person cash and hope they actually go, nor can i see someone going as far as formally going to the station with said homeless person, buying them a ticket and seeing them off. then there's the destination, why Brighton? why not any other south coast location from Bournemouth round to Southend? why even the coast? scare story/urban myth i reckon.

 

[Everest]

They can f*** right off.

We don't want more Palace down here.

 

[Don Quixote]

Most of the homeless people here aren't from Brighton, they just migrate south and end up here.

 

[The Large One]

From the Argus one year ago this week...

Olympic homeless on Brighton and Hove Streets

Homeless people are heading to Brighton and Hove to escape a purge of London’s streets ahead of the Olympics. Charities have reported “harassment” of rough sleepers in the capital as London mayor Boris Johnson looks to eradicate homelessness before the 2012 Games. As people look to escape the operation, Sussex Police has been forced to include the impact into its plans to deal with homeless people.

It comes as city bosses reported dramatic increases in both rough sleeping and homelessness with hundreds more possibly affected due to changes in Government benefits. Hove MP Mike Weatherley said: “If there has been some sort of drive to reduce homelessness in London, I can only hope that it has been carried out in a responsible manner. Moving on a problem, rather than tackling it, is hardly fair. I look forward to looking into this further as soon as I receive full confirmation of the facts.”

The campaign to end rough sleeping in London for good began in 2005 after the capital was awarded the 2012 Olympic Games. Within this is Operation Poncho, a joint council and police initiative which has been criticised by charities for “harassment” tactics. It included reports of people being woken in the night and forced to move on. Previous Olympics in Sydney in 2000 and Atlanta in 1996 saw reports of forcible removal of the homeless during the games for image purposes.

Brighton and Hove City Council leader Bill Randall said the latest rough sleeping figures were “indicative of the housing issues we face”. Council officials have counted 42 rough sleepers in the city – three times the 14 reported by the Government in December. The latest figure is comparable to 1998 when there were 48 rough sleepers recorded on the city’s streets.

However, council counts are generally recognised as including only a fraction of the true level of rough sleeping in Brighton and Hove.

Chief Inspector Bruce Mathews, of Sussex Police, said it was hard to gauge the reasons why homeless people move from one place to another. However, he said: “There is always a possibility that if somewhere else is focusing on homeless people, they may displace any problem or issue. It is one of those issues we are aware of but I can’t say whether it is having an effect on either London's volumes or the type of person that is homeless in the city.”

Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas recently claimed 840 people in the city could be affected by Government changes to housing benefit. She said: “My surgeries are full of people who are struggling to pay rent and find alternatives to overcrowded and overpriced accommodation “Ministers must now heed the warnings and reverse this measure to avert an epidemic of homelessness amongst the most vulnerable in our community.”

 

[Hastings woody]

Give them loads of free dodgy smack. That will thin them out a bit.

 

[Pinkie Brown]

Our most famous tramp, Gordon, is a regular at Dean Court - I think he must be easily pleased!

Seriously though, you need to get a tramp at the Amex. Every ground should have one

That's not the old guy with the dog who always used to watch Bournemouth games from the old away end even though he was a home fan? Forget the whole story, but I think a steward told me he always got in for free for some reason?

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

What they are doing with the homeless is the same as what the DHSS did to reduce the unemployment figures in Liverpool in the 1980's.

 

[Norman Baker suck my lozenge]

Should have them shot.

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

Surely they should be issued with sufficient funds to reach Calais.