West Ned Extra - Letters: Blight from 'plight' of homelessness

Publications by New Journal Enterprises

Home

Archive

Competition

West End Extra - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published: 4 May 2007

Blight from ‘plight’ of homelessness

• JUST to comment on the rough sleepers debate and in particular on the letter from the homeless person who verbally attacked the shop owner (Rayhan Kadir) for complaining about rough sleepers (Rough justice for street sleepers, April 27).
West End residents are all too aware of the problems associated with the homeless and drug users. On the whole, the issue of rough sleepers and drug use goes hand-in-hand.
Yes we are aware there is a shortage of accommodation for housing rough sleepers, but unless you have a local connection to London, why should you be re-homed?
If you are so desperate to be re-homed, try the area that you came from in the first place. We have enough of a housing crisis in London without the added burden of re-homing homeless people from outside of London.
The streets are not paved with gold, and not everyone wants to put up with you.
If that poor shopkeeper is fed up with clearing up urine from her shop frontage, then why should she have to justify it? It is not to benefit the tourists – it is her shop, and she obviously has respect for where she lives and works.
It is not a case of having regard for the ‘plight of the homeless’, it is a matter of having a sense of decency for the people that work to make London a better place.
Why do you think you have the right to object to signs being displayed to prevent sleeping in shop doorways? You don’t work or pay taxes.
It’s about time Londoners woke up to the ‘plight of the homeless’ and stopped trying to justify their right to live here.
They have no rights in my opinion to demand a better system for them, or to dare to criticise those of us that work or live in the West End.
Homeless people are homeless for a reason. They either messed up their lives with alcohol or drugs. They might of had to leave home through violence or emotional traumas, but at the end of the day, they chose to make themselves homeless.
If they are entitled to being re-homed, the council would do so. It’s time to stop feeling sorry and pandering to them. If you make yourself voluntarily homeless, you have no rights to be re-housed by the local authority. It isn’t our fault!
Name and address supplied

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, West End Extra, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@westendextra.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Wednesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld. Please include a full name, postal address and telephone number.
Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

Comment on this article.
(You must supply your full name and email address for your comment to be published)

Name:

Email:

Comment: