These Tories won’t fix the rough sleeping crisis, no matter what they say | Nye Jones
The latest official figures for homelessness show that, in England outside cities, the number of people sleeping rough on any one night is down 2%. But this is where the good news ends. Rough sleeping has increased by 165% since 2010, with rises of as much as 60% in major cities, compared with last year. The homeless charity Crisis's own research estimates that more than 8,000 people sleep rough on any given night. Meanwhile deaths of homeless people have more than doubled in the past five years.
Most people agree that rough sleeping shouldn't exist in a healthy society - especially not in the sixth richest economy in the world. But it doesn't appear out of nowhere; it's the product of political decisions. So why is it being allowed to continue?
Related: Why are we still using a 19th-century law that criminalises homeless people? | Shaista Aziz
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