Another reason to not vote labour locally/nationally - just incase you were stu

bristol | miscellaneous | news report Friday April 18, 2003 10:17 by Carol sweetpeas at linuxwaves dot com

Bristol is the first area to imprison a homeless man for three months for begging.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed in the backwaters of a newspaper that Bristol now has the proud record of being the first place in the country to imprison a man for begging for three months. Part of labours initiative to solve homelessness. This involves nothing but ethinic cleansing in my books.
Labours Rough Sleepers Initiative only funds homeless organisations if they say the figures are less than the previous year. This usually involves the police going around a week before the homeless count picking up everyone off the street and locking them up over night and maybe fining them. Then the counts are done when everyone is lying low. As far as I understanding its a bit like bird watching - binoculors out, note book and a pencil. "sarge - I spotted a lesser spotted smack head flying through the bear pit ..... that three" Homeless agencies are in league with this as they desperatly need the money.
Now the end conclusion is they will have to say they have no homeless people, the the funding will be pulled and Labour on paper will have solved the homelessness crisis.
I worked in a 'cold weather project' (a RSI project) which provides a roof for 3 of the coldest months of the year for people still actively using abussive substances. More number crunching about housing and a bandaid measure to make sure people are not dying on the streets and forcing "shoppers" to begin to ask the right questions. In league with this are other agents such as John Hirst (Broadmead manager) who has managed to cleanse his precious shopping mall "experience" of the ugly face of begging. Its a sight that might put the punters off worshipping at the alter of consummerism and take some time out to thing what on earth they are actually doing.
Also the Evening Post and Ian Onions who had one stock photograph of a beggar "Nick the Blanket" which they used for every article on begging. So reluctantly Nick became the "face" of begging in Bristol. He starredin articles such as the "Beggars Bugger off" article carried by the E.P about horrible smelly beggars ruinning the pristine steets of Broadmead. Effectively Nicks only source of income dried up as everyone began to reconize his celebratory status and who hold him personally responsible. A couple of years later I was browsing through the E.P and came across a different picture of Nick!. This was one of him on a hospital bed! with a drip feeding into his nose from a life support machine. He had been beaten up and left for dead. Of course the circumstances are impossible to know. But one scenario plays in my head - late night in town on a Friday with dutch courage and testosterone fit to burst "... theres that $%%&^&&& beggar he's alway in the paper lets show him a lesson lads.......". Well whatever the circumstances the E.P were were flabagasted as to who should do this and why?. They used his real name and let us know where he was from their sympathy ran sticky and sweet -who on earth could be responsible. I have a lead not on who did it but on one of the instigators .... The "Evening Post"!. I hope they do an exclusive.
I don't mind people asking me for 10p - I have no problem saying no. I DO mind clip boarded and tabbarded vultures trying to pay off their student overdraft constantly hassling me for money I haven't got for "charity" that they know next to nothing about - now thats what I call aggresive begging.
VOTE but what ever you do don't vote Labour back in.