Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con): I am sure my right hon.
Friend would agree that homeless people should be assisted and not
arrested. The review of the repeal of the Vagrancy Act 1824 has now
been concluded. Does he agree with me, therefore, that it is now
time that the amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and
Courts Bill, which are being considered in the other place, should
be adopted so that we can consign the Vagrancy Act to the history
books forever and give the police the...Request free trial
(Harrow East) (Con): I am sure my right hon.
Friend would agree that homeless people should be assisted and not
arrested. The review of the repeal of the Vagrancy Act 1824 has now
been concluded. Does he agree with me, therefore, that it is now
time that the amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and
Courts Bill, which are being considered in the other place, should
be adopted so that we can consign the Vagrancy Act to the history
books forever and give the police the powers that they need to
combat trespass, aggressive begging and other antisocial
behaviour?
The Prime Minister: My hon. Friend is a passionate campaigner
on this issue and he has done a lot of good things in this area. No
one should be criminalised simply for having nowhere to live, and I
think the time has come to reconsider the Vagrancy Act—and also to
redouble our efforts to fight homelessness, as I think we have done
successfully over the pandemic but must continue to do.
