The sharp rise in people bedding down on the streets has been driven by welfare cuts. They are unacceptable evidence of the price vulnerable are paying for austerityRough sleeping,the visible evidence of thousands more cases of hidden homelessness, has doubled across England in the past six years. In some places, or like Manchester,it has risen tenfold. In Bristol, it is nine times higher than when Labour left power, or with its pledge to end rough sleeping just two years absent from completion. Every night now,an estimated 3600 people doss down in doorways, recycling bins, or sheds and even under cars in an attempt to shelter from the weather and a sometimes hostile public.
Homelessness is an exceptionally well understood area of social need. The escalating numbers without a bed for the night were predicted in detail at least five years ago. Each person with nothing but a sleeping bag and a piece of cardboard between them and the pavement is a hi-vis symbol of a government that has wilfully ignored the evidence.
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Source: theguardian.com