'Homelessness is not a crime': Charities condemn government crackdown on 'unwelcome' beggars

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The government's plan to tackle 'harmful' beggars will promote the 'criminalisation of the vulnerable', homelessness charities have warned.

As part of a government crackdown on crime announced on Monday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he would give police and local authority officers new powers to order beggars to leave while encouraging them to use residential and mental health support services.

Another new offense will be created for criminal gangs organizing begging rings, and a government statement says people causing "nuisances in the street" would be out of place, pointing in particular to those who "obstruct shops". doors and begging at vending machines."

Conservative MP for Ashfield Lee Anderson tweeted a newspaper headline about the policy and appeared to signal his support, saying he had recently been approached by a beggar who asked him to use a card to give money through a chip and pin machine.

"I will never give money on the street again", a- he said.

But homeless charities have warned the government measures, which replace the vagrancy law which criminalized rough sleeping, will instead lead to 'further criminalisation' of the homeless -shelter.

Fiona Colley, director of social change at Homeless Link, said she was "disappointed" with the plan.

"Homelessness is not a crime," she said. "When the government pledged to repeal the vagrancy law, it did so knowing that the people who sleep on our streets d must be supported and not criminalized.

“Therefore, we are extremely disappointed to see that this new plan will lead to further criminalization of vulnerable people, rather than offering constructive solutions that work to help people get off the streets for for good."

"This plan is a step backwards that undermines the government's commitment to ending the streets in this parliament," she added.

Matt Downie, chief executive of the homeless charity Crisis, called the proposal "incredibly vanishing...