Proposed legislation could lead to the criminalisation of rough sleeping

An open letter has been sent from the clergy responsible for churches and parishes in the West End of London to Nickie Aiken, MP for Cities of London and Westminster, and Sir Keir Starmer, Leader of the Labour Party. In it, we express extreme concern at the proposed legislation to criminalise the poorest in the UK who have no choice but to sleep rough on the streets and the lack of consultation thus far with those responding to the needs of the homeless on the ground.

As reported in Premier Christian News, "The proposed amendments are part of the Government's Criminal Justice Bill, set to be reviewed by Parliament after the Easter recess. The bill seeks to repeal and replace the Vagrancy Act 1824, introducing new measures that grant police and local authorities powers to "address" rough sleeping as a "public nuisance." To read the rest of this article, please click here.

You can listen to an interview with Fr Dominic Robinson SJ, who is leading on our response to this issue, on Premier Christian Radio here.

The open letter can be read in full on the Independent Catholic News website here.

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash