Begging is not a crime
Published Date:
08 September 2008
Begging is not a crime; it's a national shame, "Bid to ban beggars from city-centre streets" (4 September). Often people beg because they feel they have no choice. We have always been unsure that if the intention of the collection boxes in Aberdeen were to stop people begging, that it would actually have that effect. We also don't agree with dictating to people where and whom they should give money to, and in this case it doesn't seem to have worked anyway.
But this is about the bigger issue of homelessness in general. Last year in Scotland, just over 40,000 households were assessed as homeless. We need to stop thinking about homelessness as being just the unfortunate people who sleep rough. They are the tip of a bigger problem. The provision of more affordable housing needs to be the priority of local and national government for a solution to homelessness to be possible, not banning begging.
GRAEME BROWN
Director, Shelter Scotland
South Charlotte Street
Edinburgh
The full article contains 172 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
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Last Updated:
07 September 2008 8:29 PM
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Source:
The Scotsman
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Location:
Edinburgh
