Grant Shapps the Conservative Party Chair used to be the minister for housing and in 2009 when shadow minister in opposition constantly attacked the numbers of rough sleepers in London that Labour has allowed to happen.
On taking office a press release said:
As you can see Grant Shapps was a man of his word and followed through with his hubris of the pre-election period and changed the way counts were taken. He also announced No Second Night Out (NSNO) as a new policy that would as its name suggests ensure that nobody slept rough for more than one night.
Yet today we see the following news release:
As you can see rough sleeping in the capital has increased by 64% since the election and since the erstwhile Grant Shapps said he was going to reduce rough sleeping.
There is even a graphical representation of the figures, a graph so simple that even Grant Shapps and his Conservative Party colleagues can understand (and of course not deny as a lie).
Yet it is all too easy to castigate and blame Grant Shapps although extremely valid to do so as this staggering 64% increase happened on his watch and as Grant Shapps wants and did give it out to ‘the last lot’ then he has to take the criticism of his own inept efforts.
Yet the real issue is that these horrendous figures will not gain any media attention at all as they concern rough sleepers and they may as well sleep rough in Gaza such is the level of mainstream media attention they will get.
There are over 4000 people, yes that’s human beings the same as you or I, living roofless in just London alone and the fact this will not receive any awareness or attention let alone any scrutiny in any allegedly civilised society is a damning indictment of how immune we have all become in these times of what is euphemistically called ‘austerity.’
This is not austere this is deeply deeply offensive and is it just pure coincidence reader that over 4000 homeless bed spaces at hostels have been lost in this time too?
In summary, sorry to have troubled you reader, this is just my conscience (personal and professional) ranting here, don’t trouble your head thinking about these undeserving roofless people that we as a society ignore because we label them undeserving. its far easier to make the point that Tory policy chronically failed than to discuss these (literally) great unwashed and no doubt the Mail or the Telegraph will label them all as foreigners anyway…I’m pretty sure Shapps will have already sent the copy over saying these are Eastern Europeans…yes the same who have taken all our British jobs apparently yet sleep on the streets….which of course means that if we (ie John Bull white-faced British) had taken these jobs then we couldn’t afford a roof over our heads too surely?
Ho hum!
SPeye Joe (Welfarewrites) 
During a temp job 3 years ago I was made aware of how many rough sleepers there are in this town (I had to count them). It is an absolute scandal that deserves more publicity.
This is how the conservatives want the plebs to be, without money, food or homes – but get them out of London please as it’s not good for the tourists or indeed, for the rich to have to see night after night as they go from one nightclub to the next.
Reblogged this on Jay's Journal and commented:
Rough sleepers? Well of course they’ll get the number down – says another lying conservative!
The economy is apparently fixed but how many lives were broken in the fixing of it? Clue: Its a Tory government so think high numbers…
The Mail alredy has… by saying that the increase of numbers is all down to Romanians, and yet at the same time saying that they only come over here to a) steal our jobs, and b) take our benefits… but if A and B were true then surely none of them would be living rough. Or perhaps they can do all three at the same time…
a mythical Romanian family who not only have a hundred generational family of a thousand, living in a 5 bedroom house supplied by the council who are getting a billion in benefits while at the same time living rough on the streets of london and working on the side for the DWP so are stealing benefits…. Seriously you couldn’t make that s**t up… well not unless you’re a DM sub-editor in which case just make that s**t up and watch the comments fly into a frenzy of hate… well unless you mention IDS, then it all goes a bit pete tong as even rabidly right wing DM commenter’s think he’s an F&%$ C&£$%$$ arse.
I wonder how Grant/Michael Green/Shapps is going to fiddle the homeless head count so that it appears there aren’t any in London.
Oh, I know, they’ll bring in a doorway tax for anyone sleeping rough, or rather an Under Occupancy Communal Foyer,Entrance or Exit Charge!!