Westminster Council does a u-turn

Soup runs will survive

Westminster Council does a u-turn

by Symon Hill 11th November 2011

Westminster Council has withdrawn plans to criminalise rough sleeping and soup runs in an area of central London. Their decision follows months of campaigning by charities and faith groups. There was a storm of protest when councillors proposed the by-law in March (see ‘Threat to soup runs’, the Friend, 11 March). The Methodist Church said that it belonged ‘in a Victorian statute-book’. Housing Justice predicted that there would be people ‘queuing up to commit acts of civil disobedience’ by distributing food.

Housing Justice last week welcomed the news that the council had backed down. They said the proposed by-law ‘represented an attack upon common sense and common decency, and would not have solved the growing crisis of homelessness on our streets’. Quaker Homeless Action have said that government cuts are already causing an increase in homelessness.


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