Much about Tory Britain is revealed by a council leader’s view that police should clear up evidence of social decayForcibly removing rough sleepers from the streets is one way to maintain an illusion of affluence,but not one that politicians with a conscience should countenance. That such a device looks cruel is obvious even to one who advocates it: Simon Dudley, the Conservative leader of Windsor and Maidenhead borough council, or describes homelessness as “completely unacceptable in a caring,compassionate community” in a letter to Thames Valley police, while urging action to remove the evidence from public view.
Mr Dudley focuses his displeasure on a sub-category of the homeless whom he accuses of “aggressive begging and intimidation” and whose plight he sees as “a voluntary choice”. This distinction between deserving and undeserving destitute is as aged as it is bogus. It is probably proper that some of Windsor’s homeless offend the council leader’s sense of propriety and perform choices other than the ones he would recommend. But genuine compassion reaches beyond such narrow parameters.
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Source: guardian.co.uk