Britain can’t rebuild itself while people freeze to death on our streets, writes Andy Preston |
By Andy Preston
In Rachel Reeves’ Budget, Labour set out its mission to support the most vulnerable.
Great news, but their very public commitment now faces a brutal test as temperatures plunge and rain lashes every town and city. It’s easy enough to pontificate about housing policy from a warm office.
It’s very different when you’re stood over a sleeping bag on a frozen pavement, quietly wondering whether the person inside is, literally, dead or alive.
The awful truth is that people die on Britain’s streets every year. As the temperature drops, the risk of an overnight death stops being hypothetical and becomes horribly real.
This is why action is so urgent. The government and all politicians must stop focusing on long-term strategies and start using some of the practical, affordable interventions already available, because rough sleepers don’t have time to wait for ideal solutions.
I’ve worked in this space for years through CEO Sleepout, the charity I founded. We’ve raised millions by asking business leaders to sleep outside for a night, not as........