Homeless in London, England

Homeless in London, England: this homeless man near Victoria rail station in central London is receiving donated clothing from a volunteer. According to statistics compiled by local authorities & outreach groups, rough sleepers in London have risen by more than 43% in the past year. Local authorities gave the number of rough sleepers in London during 2007 as 248 per night so don’t expect an honest accounting from the mayor’s office. Reuters reported today that 3,000 slept outside in London “at some point” in 2006/7 & that figure is now 6,000 during 2011/12. Not particularly useful figures if you don’t know how many are sleeping outside every night. If you don’t have a clear accounting, you have no guide for providing shelter. So there’s likely some fudging with the figures here. In 2009, mayor Boris Johnson pledged to end homelessness by 2012 but everyone knew he was just talking through his hat.

But let’s see now: the summer Dowlympic games cost nearly £20 billion pounds, with a security budget for the games of over $860 million & 18,200 military members deployed to help with security. Add that to £10.5 million just for the foolish jubilee extravaganza up the Thames which they claim was paid for by a privately-funded charitable trust--but that doesn’t include the 21 marine policing boats used or the 6,000 cops working the pageant.

The numbers speak for themselves: Betty Windsor is committing treason against what she considers “her own people.” Housing is a human right! Predation on the scale of the Dolympics & jubilee is a crime.   (Photo by Chris Helgren/Reuters)