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Homeless & Hopeless

Homeless & Hopeless
April 07
14:23 2018

MICHAEL J BLAIR
Perthshire, Scotland 

While the people who make the laws and rules which are meant to keep society civilised are lying in their warm comfortable beds, there are thousands of people, both old and young, living in squalor, poverty, or on the streets of their cities across the UK.

The inequality between those who have, and those who have little or nothing, grows ever wider.

No politicians seem to want to take responsibility for this despicable situation and, in turn, blame others for what is their responsibility.

This is typical behaviour of all politicians from all parties. They need to be kicked out at the first opportunity, and told never to darken any political doorstep ever again.

Enough is enough of these crooks and professional con men. It’s time for the people to take control of their own lives and make better decisions which actually help the most vulnerable members of society.

This might sound far fetched, but I think if we weren’t so lazy, this would be the obvious direction for modern politics to take.

Local government by local people, and not the ones who are in thrall to the major political parties. This would be politics by people who have no interest in anything except the issues which would help their own community.

There would obviously need to be liaison between the people and central government, but that would be minimal and handled by a variety of people.

No single person would be a point of contact with central government.

This would help eliminate the possibility of cronyism and corruption.

A revolving committee would make decisions on housing, roads, public transport etcetera.

The committee or committees would never have the same members at each  time. At least two people would change on every sitting. This would be a way of improving ideas and stopping the same people making all the decisions.

A budget would be worked out in advance and strictly overseen. If work was required on, let’s say a road resurfacing, it would be costed and the money allocated. This would not be put out to tender. It would be carried out by the council roads department.

No more ridiculous bids by voracious contractors who would be giving someone on the council some kind of “incentive” to award them the contract.

If all this sounds a wee bit “socialist”, you may well be right, but I can’t see another way to deal with the dreadful state of a lot of our services. Mental health, physical health, corruption, crime, increase, education, and my biggest concern, which is housing and the homeless.

Why, in the 21st century, are young and older people sleeping in the streets? There is no possible reason or excuse for this being as bad as it is at the moment. The money for all kinds of projects is found easily. But for some reason, housing vulnerable people is far down the list of priorities.

We hear occasionally from a variety of different politicians about the next study or consultation on housing, but this is only paying lip service to the problem. And as for people camping outside for three days or whatever, is usually more about them than the poor homeless person they have deigned to sit beside.

I have no time for this kind of “look at me. I’m showing solidarity with these poor people” stunt.

If “celebrities” want to be helpful, they should be banding together to buy and renovate old office buildings, often council or government owned, and making warm, safe places for the vulnerable homeless.

I know that some people might choose to live on the streets, and if they are happy to do so, that’s fine. But they should at least be offered the chance to move inside.

I mentioned mental health issues, and that goes hand in hand with homelessness. A good society looks after the less able and does not abandon them to freeze to death, huddled in a filthy shop doorway.

This is happening in every major city in the UK, and it must be addressed as a matter of urgency.

I understand that it may not be a huge vote winner, but the self-serving politicians have a duty of care to ALL their constituents, not just the ones who actually have a door on which to knock.

Follow The Party of Common Sense on Twitter, at @tpocs

Michael J Blair contributes political analysis to DDA, and he can be reached at: michaelblair43@googlemail.com. His Twitter handle is: @mmjblair

[header photo courtesy of Allan warren; Wikimedia Commons]

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