United Kingdom keeps the early 19th century Georgian-era law on vagrants in place, something the Prime Minister’s cabinet doesn’t like Rishi Sunak, who will announce in the next few hours a new regulation to change this situation. In this way, beggars who cause “nuisance” on British streets can be removed from public roads in a government plan to end “antisocial behaviorsPolice and municipal authorities will be given new powers to target people deemed to be causing “public distress.”
The new policies could prevent beggars block shop doors and ask for money at ATMs. Authorities will be able to remove beggars’ belongings in an attempt to clean up the country’s main streets “and make them safer,” explains The Daily Telegraph.
This plan intends, maintains the Executive, help people with mental health problems find accommodation and assistance or substance abuse. UK ministers say no one should be criminalized for not having a place to live.
The British press maintains that the Sunak government wants to bet on greater security on the streets and curb “anti-social behavior” that “undermines the basic right of people to feel safe.”
The actual Vagrancy Law dates from 1824 and it restricts above all the presence of beggars at the entrances of means of transport, but the authorities believe that it is not applied. Some organizations estimate that the number of “homeless” has increased by 169% since the conservatives came to power in 2010 and launched the austerity policies.
Likewise, a new offense will be created for criminal gangs that pull the strings of begging networkssomething Whitehall officials believe is often used to facilitate illegal activities.
This change is part of a larger crime crackdown that includes banning laughing gas and requiring offenders to start removing graffiti within 48 hours. The move comes weeks after Labor leader Keir Starmer launch a series of policies aimed at tackling anti-social behaviour.