Clearing homeless in Windsor for the royal wedding

[user764329056]

WTAF? I remember fences were built to hide the ‘ unsightly’ townships in South Africa when they hosted the World Cup. I truly can’t believe this, heaven forbid the royals should see real life which might offend their sensibilities. As the old joke says the queen thinks the whole country smells of paint as there are people running around ahead of them sprucing everything up. Yes, we mustn’t present Windsor in an unfavourable light must we, nobody needs to be bothered by those pesky homeless.

Not just that they ca have a free jolly overseas whist under the guise of charity work

can

“AtrociousCircumstance

You cannot believe in equality and support the idea of the monarchy.

Mutually exclusive.“

I’ll raise a glass to that sentiment, my friend

And the “oh, they do so much more for charity than you” ... if I never had to worry about where my mortgage was coming from, that my DC might be failed by the education system, that my parents needed my help, that I was simply knackered from doing actual work (public appearances are tiresome no doubt, I genuinely work with a celeb client and see the annoyance and strains, but it’s hardly being a nurse, chef or builder!!!), then I would be doing exactly the same, and I think many of us would

Some of them support charity because they want to and it’s a genuine passion (I would include Will and Harry there), some I feel because they liked the adoration, and some because it’s the only real ‘function’ the royals have, and the only hope of defending their ridiculous entitlements

On the wedding day there could be a mass 'sit in' of people with blankets and cardboard boxes. The massed world media won't be able to ignore it then.

The homeless aren’t just spread out around Windsor, they are deliberately sleeping outside of the castle to attract tourists.

Of course they are, if you where homeless and asking for money where would you go? Down the bottom end of the high street by the post office, or the castle where most people visit - they need to optimise their opportunities --

start thinking like a Tory and they'll be on their feet in no time at all

Of course they have to cleared, they are a security risk.

Of course they have to cleared, they are a security risk.

How are they any more of a security risk than any other person who goes there?

I'm mean I don't understand, you can touch the castle walls, children roll down the hill, there are benches a stones throw away.

And i am heartily sick of the tired old "tourist" thing that royalists continuously spout out as a justification for keeping them. There's not a shred of evidence to say people visit the UK because we have a RF. I think we'd get a hell of a lot more if we didn't have them. All those big empty palaces, the tourists would flock to them in their droves, just like in Paris. The royals are an unnecessary burden in a country that can't even feed its poor.

^agree

If only those savvy beggars used their capitalist money making ventures in the real world and paid taxes etc they would make a fortune presumably, but begging is tax free you see.

If you know where to go to make money tax free you are not destitute. You have brains! The donors do not though and are constantly working on their conscience. Total sum game.

It is total blx.

@bestthings

Totally agree, tourists come to see the beauty of the palaces and lands, still having living royals is irrelevant

If fact without them, we’d have more access to some of those (we own Windsor don’t we?) maybe tourism would increase? ...

*in fact

Of course they are, if you where homeless and asking for money where would you go? Down the bottom end of the high street by the post office, or the castle where most people visit - they need to optimise their opportunities

Well waking up would be a start. People literally have to step over them to walk down the road! That is a hazard anywhere. Also saw one with sleeping with a massive knife on his hat next to him the other day. Obviously meant for protection but could easily fall in to the wrong hands.

Also remember Windsor isn’t just a castle and a wedding! Just because you’ve only heard about the issue now because it’s on the news!

FrostyThirties0

I live nearish to Windsor and have for a long time, they have had homeless people sleeping near the Castle for years, no one wanted them cleared then.

Yes they are always asleep. Not sure why that's a problem for you though.

Where did you have to step over them? Were they asleep in the actual street, because it's fairly narrow there or where they in the little doorway bit near McDonald's?

You k ow what causes more disruption though then you having to step over some one asleep?
The changing of the guard.

In the bus stop by WHSmith but not along the bus Stop, head inside and feeet pointing towards the shop. I had a double buggy and a toddler walking.

a planned visit was held for a small London town I worked in, very poor area. The whole place decorated with flowers, and all buildings scrubbed. At the time I worked in the Vets, we were x-raying a patient and it was a life or death moment. Just as I tried to process the x-ray the power went off. Apparently this was because of the visit and extra lighting needed in November. We were not warned this would happen. That night all the decorations were taken down and I was threatened at the bus stop. Fab.

OK If all these homeless people are professional beggars and vagrants doing it because they can't be bothered to just get a job and this is so much easier, why have their numbers so recently increased? Do those espousing this viewpoint of the poor think people have only just noticed this easy life? Did they not notice how easy it was to make money this way just 10 years ago when homelessness was an awful lot lower than now?

I have also noticed, like HelenaDove, the amount of interest that the lives of poor people abroad seems to generate among our middle and upper classes compared to the lives of people on our own streets and how the narrative changes between those two groups.

The Tory politician demanding police take homeless people off the streets ahead of the Royal Wedding is a paid director of a government agency that’s supposed to be tackling rough sleeping, Scrapbook can reveal.

Windsor and Maidenhead council chief Simon Dudley hit the headlines yesterday after asking Thames Valley police to use the 1824 Vagrancy Act to remove homeless people from the streets before the ceremony at Windsor Castle on May.
Murphy James of the Windsor Homeless Project called his comments “sickening” and said the Council was offering them “rat-infested” accommodation.

So we were surprised to find that Dudley sits on the board of a public body – the Homes and Communities Agency – with responsibility for helping homeless people.

The leader of Theresa May’s local authority said he expected to be paid between £10,000 and £20,000 upon taking-up the taxpayer-funded role in February.

Ah the HCA.

Like i said earlier the contempt for homeless people and for social housing tenants sometimes comes from the same quarters.

www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2017/aug/25/national-housing-regulator-silent-grenfell-inquiry-law-hca

Frosty, I always assume the reason so many homeless are asleep in the day is that they don't feel safe sleeping at night, due to the risk of being attacked and (in winter) the risk of hypothermia. Makes sense to me.

Also, quite a few no doubt have MH problems, which might explain some odd behaviour (your example with not hiding the knife carefully).

Not all people who beg are homeless. Some people beg because they can make a lot of money doing it. Some beggars travel to where they beg. Some beggars are quite aggressive.

I volunteered at a homeless shelter in a local church for a couple of nights before Christmas. The few men (it was all men) I chatted with were very clear about not wanting to be housed. I still found it an incredibly sad and moving predicament, to have ended up feeling so detached from society. But I do think it's true that a lot of homeless people are not looking for a home.

What I've read says that they are professional beggars with homes to go to.