I just have no words

[Soloparenthelp]

What has this country become.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67321319

I’m trying to give perspective on what happens with the tent cities, I’m not saying I don’t have empathy for people who are homeless.

That's not what she wrote. She said it's a complex issue that can't be solved just with the provision of housing and that more support was needed for homeless people. Not being able to cope in a hostel or needing the only support and family they have around them is not the same as making a 'lifestyle' choice. The 'choices' made by people who are homeless do not happen in a vacuum, being unable to cope in society or in temporary accommodation is not the same thing as choosing to be homeless. The reasons they refuse accommodation need to be looked into and dealt with. But it's much easier and cheaper to say they don't want our help and that because or that we can wash our hands of them.

It is complex. There are lots of threads on here about drug/alcohol addicted men behaving violently and not being able to work and the woman (quite rightly) being told to kick the man out. They then go and sofa surf for a while before they run out of options. What support should we offer these people? We need to do something about drug and alcohol addiction but I don’t know what that is.

I don't know the answer here but is it a form of enablement? All mumsnetters are quick to say 'LTB alcoholic', but they will be fine in their tent!? Tent or no tent they need to sort their shit out.

Exactly @camelfinger

Of course she does! And just in time for winter 🥶 ❄️ ⛄️

It mostly comes back to trauma, I think better mental health supports help, maybe therapeutic farms etc. more types of shelter. I know that converted shipping containers have helped with supports in some areas.

often the most vulnerable women in those tents are often abused by the people around them.

Addiction isn't conducive to rational thinking, as anyone who has ever quit smoking knows.

1. Under a Tory govt, the funding for that specialist support won't materialise. 2) You can put all that extra stuff in without outlawing tents.

often the most vulnerable women in those tents are often abused by the men around them.

FTFY.

I'm well versed in alcoholism. But giving people a place to stay and where they can happily drink or use with fellow addicts is not the best thing for them. And I'm not talking about homelessness.

Like I said I don't know the answer. But it's not piling up tents on the streets, I don't think.

Agreed @VitoCorleoneOfMNMafia 😔

All criminalising tents will do is kill more people who are left with no shelter. Maybe that’s her route to deal with things.

it’s a complex issue and there will never be a one size fits all solution but all the organisations which actually work with these people day to day seem to be pretty unanimous in saying this isn’t an answer at all!

Taking the tent solves nothing. It’s performative cruelty.

all the organisations which actually work with these people day to day seem to be pretty unanimous in saying this isn’t an answer at all!
What do they know? Don't go letting the experts confuse you.

The issue is addiction,mental health issues , or both aren't exactly conductive to rational,sensible decision making.

Possible solutions

Reversing the Tory destruction of the welfare state.
Reversing the Tory destruction of mental health services.
Building more homes.
A system that allows immigrants to work immediately (and fill jobs that stand unfilled - they would then immediately pay tax to fund the above).

When my husband was a teenager he slept rough.
He is still scarred by the hardships of it now.
He has no happy memories of that time.
It possibly was a lifestyle choice for him - he chose to leave an abusive and mentally unstable mother. He had no other choices. He was young, poor, isolated.

He found help after a year and got on his feet, got a roof over his head and has been a contributing member of society now for decades.

Invest in people who are on the bones of their arse isn't a waste of money.

Love the dog whistle "many of them from abroad". She's a vile traitor to PoC.

Until hostels are made which are geared up for complex needs, this is going to remain a problem. We have a "safe surrender" policy where people can give up a tenancy if they can't cope, without being penalised. Great, but they're still homeless.

The introduction of universal credit with people getting monthly payments abd being expected to budget, hasn't helped at all . Some people just can't.

Some would need their finances manages, but thats not allowed.

Even supported housing, where there are no additional utility bills to pay , a service charge is due each week and people will be evicted for not paying it.

It's not just about the money/rent though. Condition of property, anti social behaviour, dealing/prostitution in a property, cuckoo-ing. So many reasons for people not being able to manage a tenancy.

So what is the answer? Maybe outlawing tents alongside an adequate number of spaces in hostels will force those who are resistant to help off the streets and a step closer to treatment.

I agree with this and the earlier post. My view is that it is the lack of comprehensive support that looks at the all round situation. It isn't just here you go there's a room in a hostel and over the way you can get support with benefits or addiction we need some kind of package for people. The same issues we see in mental health care, social care and schools. I don't like tents on the street but penalties for this without any investment in root case and rehabilitation simply won't resolve anything.

Or it will mean they are left sleeping on the streets without shelter and at even greater risk.

It won't because it doesn't address WHY people are resistant to help in the first place.

I recently battled for months to access mental health diagnosis/support for a family member.

I'm a mature, educated, sober, middle class woman with savings, a secure roof over my head and a support network of caring family and friends.

I can't stress this strongly enough IT NEARLY BROKE ME the struggle to get help. I was in tears and pretty much begging on my knees to the GP's receptionist before we eventually found the first glimmer of help.

I cannot believe how impossible getting any kind of help must be from a tent, on a high street, with mental health issues, no money, no support network and no access to the internet. You can't wash, you can't get warm, you don't know where your next meal will come from.

Last night I took a hot drink and a Mars bar to the chap who sometimes sleeps in our church porch. He talks to himself like he's two people in one having a conversation with himself, all the time, day and night, even when he's talking to me. He's such a nice, polite man. I've never seen him drinking, I don't think he's on drugs (but I wouldn't really know). He's just not in his right mind and needs help. The police know he's there. Social services know he's there. Our lovely lady vicar knows he's there as do all the well off, well-connected people in our tidy houses in our nice little bit of the city. He's still there and he has nothing. If he can't get help then what hope others?

Suella Braverman has a cold, hard heart and no regard for the quality of life of her fellow humans.

So how do we help people who refuse help?

A lifestyle choice meaning rock vs hard place given the fucking options (which include living in a hostel being attacked by other residents etc) - read the post you're referring to again properly, please.