Why are the council not tackling the growing camp in central London?

[Eesha]

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16036293/Tents-endless-thefts-local-shopkeepers-bathing-street-Romanian-Bulgarian-beggar-encampment-blighting-heart-London.html

I know its the Daily Fail but ive been past this area and its become really shocking. Its a huge camp now. Why aren't the council doing anything?

I was in Brussels last week, and I think London will end up the same. The core central area (I accept Brussels is tiny compared to London), was gorgeous with the usual pavement cafes, the Grand Place and the gallery shops and so on. That is well policed and manicured/sanitised. Outside of this area is just ok, but the further you get from the core the worse it is.

So maybe that's what will happen. Whatever part of London you might think is "core" will be sanitised and touristic, the rest left to rot. A bit like Paris I suppose.

Not a nice thought. It's really awful that those who live, work and visit London have to endure this day and night, the quality of life for those who pay for it is not as good as it should be. The big problem and it always was, is the fact that few of the campers are here legally. Even pre Brexit, those arriving from EU had to prove they could support themselves within three months or be sent back. Ha Ha Ha, I doubt that ever happened, so now most of them definitely don't have free movement and still nothing is done.

My apologies if I come across as an intolerant so and so. But it's there before our eyes isn't it?

I used to work with a romanian gypsy a few years ago, he was an engineer so had attended school and uni etc and was working on the crossrail project for TFL...we did chat once and he explained how all the different gypsy clans function and operate, its quite rigid...He pointed out that the ones we see begging and in the tents would all be from Tanderei, its a village. They have a nomadic lifestyle and travel around the EU, often begging etc...the other clans dont engage with them much as they beg and pick pocket etc....They build houses back home for the spirits of their dead family members, dont live in the houses but would occupy a wooden shack built in the back garden.They have opportunities to study but not interested, govt gave plots of land which they use to dump rubbish, and often like to play the victim..That was his take on them, one perspective.

Murdered or robbed or both. You had to be there to see the place and the people. I’m not exaggerating.

There are a lot fewer rough sleepers around Charing X in the last couple of years. There were always several tents around and drunk men often collapsed on the station steps of an evening during the last Tory government, and particularly when Johnson was mayor of London. But they were white so the DM didn't give a shit.

Bollocks. The majority of central London is really decent and safe and a lot less dingy/shady/sketchy than many other cities around the world. And is of course one of the most multicultural cities in the world also which really bothers the racists.

I work near Charing X and it’s definitely getting less safe. It absolutely reeks of piss and shit when you come out the tube because of all the homeless there. Problem is they sit outside McDonald’s all day or go to Cov Gdn and beg and people give them money. A homeless charity hands out meals every day. I’ve spoken to a few of them and they have absolutely no desire to go to a shelter. They seem mentally unwell to me. I don’t know what the solution is but the camps are growing. If you want a real shock, go and look outside John Lewis on Oxford street early in the morning. The entire bit that has shelter is full of tents every day! The council does move them on every morning.

I think you've got me confused with someone else

I'm not disputing that it's there. I'm saying I think it started during or after lockdown that's all. Whereas the Park Lane one was there aaaages. I never saw the Euston one when I had to take my dad to hospital. Then I wasn't there during lockdown....And then after lockdown, there it was. So all I'm saying is, I don't know exactly when it started.

And I am certainly not defending them!

We must not have met because I half expect to be ignored or accused of right wing conspiracies these days 😂 I am certainly not going to deny the existence of homeless encampments in London.

You can film the whole thing for hours, that poster will keep arguing.

The other side of the road has photos from 2025, and you can just about see the tents through the trees. It is a bit peculiar that we seem to be missing a whole stretch of the 2025 pictures though, which just so happen to be where the camp is... No doubt there's a perfectly innocent explanation.

Oh no no! I’m not saying you’re a denier or disputing you. I only meant to say: the pre/post lockdown thing may well be a good accurate observation. Then, separate point, new paragraph: Google Stteetview is weird. Capital W Weird.

I’m on your side!

Even pre Brexit, those arriving from EU had to prove they could support themselves within three months or be sent back

Something of a myth in reality - so-called 'jobseekers' had longer than 3 months, were entitled to claim some sort of jobseeker's allowance in their host country under equal treatment rights if relevant, plus presumably those people sleeping rough were often supporting themselves by begging/taking ad hoc jobs such as labouring, or criminal activity in any case. Deportation for all EU citizens was supposed to be in exceptional cases;

Can you be deported or asked to leave?

Your host country can ask you to leave if you can't prove that you have a realistic chance of finding work there.

In exceptional cases, your host country can deport you on grounds of public policy, public security, or public health - but only if it can prove you pose a serious threat.

The deportation decision or request to leave must be given to you in writing. It must state all the reasons for your deportation and specify how you can appeal and by when.

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/residence/residence-rights/jobseekers/index_en.htm#just-moved

maybe you aren’t visiting then “right” parts of london because these camps have been an issue near hyde park for a long time, and along euston road. and now there is no legal power to move them, since Starmer decided to decriminalise vagrancy rather than find ways to substantially support people who would be vulnerable to homelessness.
and to not accept intentional homelessness and begging and pickpocketing gangs.

You only need to take a walk down Tottenham Court to see it for yourself.

@MauriceTheMussel oh I see, thanks for clarifying

They are washing in disabled toilets inside departmental stores .

Except they wouldn’t Make the same money . I wonder if they will be here in the depths of winter ?

The Park Lane one is mainly Roma isn't it?

It is an issue in cities all over Europe, I remember going to Montpellier in France 10 years ago and there was massive Roma camp on the outskirts of the city.

We were in Toulouse last month and there was a noticeable amount of homeless people begging on the streets and hassling people in bars . The receptionist at our hotel said they were mainly Roma from a large encampment down by the river.

I am old enough to remember when the Southbank qas full of homeless people and what is now the IMax was a massive homeless camp.

If the council cannot move them along, what are they going to end up doing? They can’t camp out forever. Or can they?

If they are in the UK illegally, then immigration need to deal with it. If they are British, homelessness is a multi faceted issue and cannot just be resolved over night. The majority of British homeless people in the UK cannot maintain a tenancy. That is not a housing issue, it’s a mental health/addiction issue and it needs massive amount of support to resolve.

This. I work within an organization that deals with homelessness and many street sleepers do so out of choice. Some even have permanent accommodation but prefer to sleep in city centres to feed their habit and/or be in close proximity to their (user) friends. In my city they are all locals, many of whom have loving families who are begging them to go home but unfortunately they are in the throes of addiction.

@ineedadehumidifier you probably do need a dehumidifier, it is very high where I am!

You mentioned Immigration dealing with it. They don’t really. I talked about this on another thread, but I came off the thread because I felt I was derailing it.

But if you Google you will see that the authorities have very limited powers but particular particularly with EU citizens, in terms of deporting them purely because they are homeless. They basically can’t.

It’s a cycle of complete nonsense that benefits nobody except lawyers and NGOs and charities I guess.

Maybe but that doesn't allow them to set up a shanty town and shit on the pavements.

https://www.pressreader.com/uk/daily-express/20250521/281715505527581

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16036293/Tents-endless-thefts-local-shopkeepers-bathing-street-Romanian-Bulgarian-beggar-encampment-blighting-heart-London.html

It’s far easier mentally to just accept our country is fucked. There is no will to solve any problem. The young people are setting fire to the countryside and smashing up the town centres as they are hopeless. We have no control over our borders. Our prisons are full. Infrastructure is falling apart, services hanging on by a thread. It’s like one of those online videos where YouTubers video an old abandoned mansion that the owners walked away from decades ago.

Let them freely build their shanty towns and rob all the local businesses till they close down. Then all the liberals can feel warm and cosy.

I agree. We should act like Trump and get groups of masked police / customs/ whoever to go in and physically take the tents and move them on. So sick of a legal system that protects the wrong

Theres a huge amount of money to be made ensuring the deterioration continues. It’s cheaper to let it happen than fight it.