The British government has confirmed its intention to repeal the 200-year-old Vagrancy Act, which criminalises sleeping outdoors and currently affects homeless people in England and Wales, the UK government said in a statement.
England’s Vagrancy Act was passed in 1824 to combat homelessness, which had increased following the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century and the Industrial Revolution.
The law has been relaxed in recent years but still means homeless people in England and Wales can be prosecuted.
Instead, the current British government has said it will introduce new legislation to tackle the root causes of homelessness and additional funding for this purpose by spring 2026.
In addition, the new legislation will take into account the criminalisation of acts such as facilitating begging for profit, which are present in the 1824 law.
Let us recall that in 2018 a law came into force in Hungary that prohibits homeless people from sleeping on the streets.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has demanded that homeless people move out of Washington, D.C. “immediately.” The president of the United States calls it a step in the fight against crime. He wrote that homeless people will be provided with places to stay, but far from the capital.
It is not clear how this would be implemented in practice. Later today, Trump has called a press conference at which he will announce his plan to make Washington, D.C. “safer and more beautiful than ever before.”
The mayor of Washington, D.C., – Muriel Bowser, said today, that not only has there been no increase in crime in the city, but that serious crimes have been decreasing over the past two years.
Illustrative Photo by Taufiq Klinkenborg: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-wearing-high-top-sneakers-384553/
