Suella Braverman is facing a backlash after controversial comments she made while promoting policies to crack down on rough sleeping.
The home secretary wants to restrict the use of tents by homeless people in UK towns and cities.
Here’s what Mrs Braverman said, what aspects of her comments have caused outrage – and some of the responses she received from fellow politicians.
What Ms Braverman said on X
The home secretary’s statement, which she shared on X on Saturday, read: “The British people are compassionate. We will always support those who are genuinely homeless.
“But we cannot allow our streets to be taken over by rows of tents occupied by people, many of them from abroad, living on the streets as a lifestyle choice.
“Unless we step in now to stop this, British cities will go the way of places in the US like San Francisco and Los Angeles, where weak policies have led to an explosion of crime, drug taking, and squalor.
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“Nobody in Britain should be living in a tent on our streets. There are options for people who don’t want to be sleeping rough, and the government is working with local authorities to strengthen wraparound support including treatment for those with drug and alcohol addiction.
“What I want to stop, and what the law abiding majority wants us to stop, is those who cause nuisance and distress to other people by pitching tents in public spaces, aggressively begging, stealing, taking drugs, littering, and blighting our communities.”
What the home secretary told Sky News
Speaking exclusively to Sky News’ Ali Fortescue on Saturday, Mrs Braverman further explained her plans to stop homeless people sleeping in tents.
Ali Fortescue: “Let’s talk about reports that you’re planning on restricting homeless people from using tents. Why is that something you’re looking at?”
Suella Braverman: “Listen, the British people are a compassionate nation and of course we must do everything necessary to support those who are genuinely homeless.
“But at the same time, we must make sure we don’t go down the same route as some cities in the US, like San Francisco or Seattle where living in a tent has become a lifestyle choice, and with it has brought drug use, criminality and antisocial behaviour.”
Ali Fortescue: “You talk about a lifestyle choice… surely this is something people do out of desperation, not a lifestyle choice?
Suella Braverman: “As I said, we will help those who are genuinely homeless.
“It cannot be right that parts of our cities are ruined and blighted by the sight and use of tents.
“There is no need to use tents for accommodation in 21st century Britain. It brings criminality, it brings drug use, it brings in many instances violence to communities.”
The backlash
Lots of people with experiences of homelessness and rough sleeping shared their views on social media, pointing out that rather than lifestyle choice, they had suddenly found themselves without anywhere to live after falling behind on bills or losing their jobs.
Housing and homelessness charity, Shelter, released a statement in opposition to the home secretary’s comments.
It read: “Let’s make it clear: living on the streets is not a ‘lifestyle choice’ – it is a sign of failed government policy.
“No one should be punished for being homeless. Criminalising people for sleeping in tents, and making it an offence for charities to help them, is unacceptable.
“The housing emergency boils down to people not being able to afford to live anywhere. The current scenario:
“This, combined with decades of government failure to build genuinely affordable social homes, is what is driving record levels of homelessness and leaving thousands of people on the streets.
“The government promised to end rough sleeping, but is falling short of the mark.”
The government’s energy secretary Claire Coutinho appeared to distance herself from Mrs Braverman’s comments, telling Kay Burley this morning she “wouldn’t necessarily use the language of ‘lifestyle choice’ because the reasons for homelessness are “complex and varied”.
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Ms Coutinho said Mrs Braverman had in her comments “distinguished that a lot of people who end up in that position are struggling, for example, with addiction issues”.
“And she wasn’t talking about those people,” she added.
“I think the most important thing is that for all of those people, what we want is for them to have a warm home, a roof over their heads.
“Because ultimately sleeping on the streets, becoming entrenched in that lifestyle, that’s no life for anyone.”
Pressed on whether Mrs Braverman “misspoke”, the energy secretary replied: “So I think she was talking about different things.
“She acknowledged that there are people who just, you know, they need our compassion. They’re struggling with things like addiction. They need help and support. And that’s exactly what the plans are, by the way.
“But she also talked about people, I think, who are nuisance begging who are working in organised groups.
“And I think it’s right that we make sure that we’re getting people off the streets into safe accommodation and also making sure that our neighbourhoods feel safe for people as well.”
Responding to the home secretary’s initial tweets, Labour MP Jess Phillips said: “My brother was a rough sleeper, unlike Suella Braverman he has dedicated his life in gratitude to the fact he still has it to the service and help of others.
“He’d be a better home secretary than her but then again a cardboard box would be a better home secretary than her.”
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Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael said: “This is grim politics from a desperate Conservative government which knows its day are numbered.
“It is a new low for Braverman to criminalise homeless charities for simply trying to keep vulnerable people warm and dry in winter.
“The British public raise millions of pounds for homeless people at this time of year, and the government’s response is to criminalise those charities trying to help.
“This policy will do nothing to stop rough sleeping and will leave vulnerable people to face the harsh weather conditions without any shelter whatsoever.”
