Outrageous. The vast majority of the street homeless stopped from using tents will, of course, be men. If it were otherwise, the proposal wouldn’t have been made. An extract from the BBC piece:
The home secretary is proposing new laws to restrict the use of tents by homeless people, arguing that many of them see it as a “lifestyle choice”.
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We often have a “resident” in the grounds of our chapel. Only once a couple. Generally a man in the “limbo” ex prisoners find themselves in following release. Or a “care leaver”. Both right at the bottom of the housing “lists” as they are not “vulnerable” being single males. Basically rough sleeping is a direct result of housing policy which leaves single men in a sort of “catch 22” wherein the only offer is hostels that typically only can give one or two nights stays. Without an address these men can’t get jobs and have the stability to begin a reasonable life. The best response I’ve seen has come from entrepreneurs who have developed “pods” in warehouses. So the chap has a postal address as well as a comfortable place to sleep. There would be no need for tents if such inventive solutions were supported by Gov. Their “history” of problems with drink or drugs effectively excludes them from precisely the help they need. As far as I can see because policy seems to assume such problems make females “vulnerable” and male “bad news”.