Latest editorial
Campaigners and dissident Tory MPs unite to condemn government attack on homeless people
'These figures should be a wake-up call'
DISSIDENT Tory MPs and homelessness campaigners united today to condemn government plans for a draconian new law against rough sleeping.
In a sordid squabble over how smelly is too smelly, ministers struggled to defend sections of the Criminal Justice Bill that would empower the police to fine homeless people who are a “nuisance.”
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan conceded that people “should not be arrested just if they smell,” admitting that she did not know what the Bill meant by “excessive” odour.
More from this author
ANDREW MURRAY casts an eye over past upheavals and asks whether the left can find a fire escape before the world goes up in flames
But Business Secretary downplays prospect of full nationalisation and declines to extend emergency assistance to Port Talbot or Grangemouth
Meanwhile, Labour government toughens rhetoric against the genocide, but stops short of making any changes in policy or practical support for Israel
