Labour must fight the criminalisation of homelessness

Over the last year homelessness has soared by a staggering 30 per cent. Within the last five years it has increased by more than a quarter nationwide and by half in London. This is a crisis – and one that is visible in nearly every major town.

I went on my first outreach with Labour Campaign to End Homelessness (LCEH), started by the invaluable Councillor Sam Stopp, on New Year’s Eve, which involves handing out supplies to homeless people. It was sub-zero. The experience was overwhelming. You could not have came out of it with a bright or optimistic view of the world. You could not have came out of it without being tremendously angry at not just the Conservatives, but at the Labour Party, who have been playing politics with many other issues trival by comparison. Labour has not said enough about this epidemic that is quite literally on all of our doorsteps.

Now, as ever, people-on-high, averting their eyes, are deciding the best way to deal with homelessness is to shove it under the rug, and, as is common practice under the Government, blame the victim. One in ten councils are prepared, or are preparing, to criminalise homelessness. Some have already introduced similar policies.

Recently VICE found that 36 local authorities are already using, or are preparing to use, Public Space Protection Orders to ban anything that upsets “quality of life” in their communities. Anyone that upsets the “quality of life” can be fined £1,000 and face a criminal record. These PSPOs were created by the Coalition to tackle anti-social behaviour but this represents a huge expansion of their scope. Activities like begging are already “illegal”, but PSPOs make the individuals prosecutable in a way they were not before.

It goes without saying this is a shocking way to hide the epidemic of homelessness, as many rough sleepers will seek somewhere more secretive, or out of the public eye.

It must be noted this is happening in Labour councils, too. Hackney was the first to consider issuing PSPOs to ban rough sleeping but a public backlash, including a petition with 80,000 signatures, pushed the council into a U-turn.

Among the councils currently considering enacting PSPOs against begging and other forms of “anti-social behaviour”, VICE identified a diverse range of councils that have already criminalised begging, while Shepway has already banned sleeping in public places.

This comes, of course, after controversies about councils putting spikes in front of buildings. If a country is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable, Britain does not come out of this well.

It is up to Labour now, whether in power or in opposition, to fight against these most awful council decisions. We must lobby our councillors. It is also up to us to campaign to defend and make gains in May’s local elections, to ask candidates to sign pledges against anti-homeless PSPOs, and then to hold these Labour councils to account. As Hackney has shown, mobilisation and outrage can force councils to think again.

In the meantime, LCEH could really use your help. We will be launching or have launched in London, Birmingham, Newcastle, Manchester and Liverpool, before expanding to other major cities. I will be co-ordinating the Newcastle outreach work. Not only will we be doing weekly outreaches based on donations from volunteers in our respective cities, but we will be building rapports with local authorities and other community bodies for local knowledge and services available. Please get in touch with us, help fight on the ground, bring along tea, coffee, blankets, gloves, and sanitary products. If not, speak to your local CLP about running food or clothing banks to contribute to our outreaches.

This, of course, is not enough on its own. It is a short-term solution to a long-term issue and an issue that can only be solved with policy change. That’s why we also demand Labour campaign against the criminalisation of homelessness, for MPs to speak out where it is happening in their constituencies, and for the Labour Party nationally to prioritise homelessness.

Jade Azim is active in Durham CLP