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Suella Braverman cracks down on foreigners living on streets
UK cities could face a situation like San Francisco and Los Angeles, where high homeless populations have contributed to high crime rates, Braverman said.
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Indian-origin UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman sparked controversy when she referred to living on the streets as a "lifestyle choice," particularly for some British residents including a majority of those from abroad.
“The British people are compassionate. We will always support those who are genuinely homeless. But we cannot allow our streets to be taken over by rows of tents occupied by people, many of them from abroad, living on the streets as a lifestyle choice," the minister posted on social media platform X.
Given the rising numbers of homeless people living in tents on the street, Braverman expressed concerns that the UK cities could face a situation similar to that of San Francisco and Los Angeles, where high homeless populations living on the streets have contributed to elevated crime rates.
“Unless we step in now to stop this, British cities will go the way of places in the US like San Francisco and Los Angeles, where weak policies have led to an explosion of crime, drug taking, and squalor,” she asserted.
Braverman mentioned in a series of tweets that the government is working on a system to help people living on the streets who are battling substance abuse problems. “Nobody in Britain should be living in a tent on our streets. There are options for people who don’t want to be sleeping rough, and the government is working with local authorities to strengthen wraparound support including treatment for those with drug and alcohol addiction," she said.
“What I want to stop, and what the law abiding majority wants us to stop, is those who cause nuisance and distress to other people by pitching tents in public spaces, aggressively begging, stealing, taking drugs, littering, and blighting our communities," the minister further added.
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