The home secretary, Suella Braverman, has described rough sleeping as a “lifestyle choice” while defending her decision to restrict the use of tents by homeless people on the streets of Britain.
According to Whitehall insiders, Braverman plans to crack down on tents that cause a nuisance in urban areas such as high streets – amid growing numbers of rough sleepers and what the government considers a rise in antisocial behaviour.
The home secretary has also proposed the introduction of a civil offence, which could lead to charities being fined if they provide homeless people with tents, the Financial Times reported.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Braverman defended her proposals, saying: “The British people are compassionate. We will always support those who are genuinely homeless. But we cannot allow our streets to be taken over by rows of tents occupied by people, many of them from abroad, living on the streets as a lifestyle choice.
“Unless we step in now to stop this, British cities will go the way of places in the US like San Francisco and Los Angeles, where weak policies have led to an explosion of crime, drug-taking, and squalor.
Is “rough sleeping” a UK term, or is that as tone-deaf as it sounds to my American sensibilities?
Stand UK term. Used by charities and the voluntary sector as well as government. Not particularly tone deaf. What is your preferred term?
I dunno, but I feel like even “homeless” is a more-encompassing term, since it affects more than just your sleep situation. I feel like “rough sleeping” is really downplaying what homelessness entails.
Homeless people are called homeless. But not all people sleeping rough are homeless. For example someone ejected from their home by an abusive partner might be sleeping rough, but wouldn’t be homeless. It’s a question of being precise and not assuming things about someone’s circumstances
If i got ejected from my home… I would consider myself homeless…
I imagine you’d actually be pretty pissed ofc that someone had ejected you from your home. I doubt you’d just shrug and say ‘I don’t have a home anymore. Legally it’s still your home. You’d want help to get back into it.
That’s assuming we are talking about getting evicted from a place I own. Majority of people don’t own a home for whom homelessness is just what happens if they can’t find a place to rent or afford it.
And not all homeless people are sleeping rough, some are in temporary accommodation etc
Americans call it homelessness, sleeping on the street, and homeless camping. To us it would sound like a euphemism. Just a confusion in language though.
Here “homeless” is more of an umbrella term, since many people are homeless and not sleeping rough (housed temporarily by the council, staying with friends, staying in a shelter).
Sounds insensitive alright and I’m not American.
I’m Canadian and the phrase “sleeping rough” is definitely in use here. Many homeless people sleep in shelters or cars or someone else’s place, if they have the option. “Sleeping rough” is useful for differentiating those who are sleeping in bus shelters, tents, etc. I most frequently hear it used by people advocating for the homeless.