Decriminalising rough sleeping will do little to help the homeless ^74.5%

spiked - By Samiksha Bhattacharjee - 7/6/2026, 6:30 PM

Biased Writer Voice 94.1% - Negativity Bias 48.9% - Appeal to Emotion 32.3%

A 200-year-old relic of the Georgian era has finally been buried. Labour’s recent decision to repeal the 1824 Vagrancy Act means that rough sleeping and begging have officially been decriminalised across England and Wales. Predictably, the commentary pages have been filled with back-slapping. Campaigners are calling it a ‘watershed... more