Home Office whistleblower reveals ‘shame’ of working on ‘crackpot Tory’ plan to criminalise homelessness
By Liam Geraghty
BIG ISSUE EXCLUSIVE
Civil servants tasked with delivering the government’s plans to criminalise homelessness have “low morale” and are tired of “crackpot Tory ideas”, a government insider working on the Criminal Justice Bill has told The Big Issue.
The controversial bill is due to replace the Vagrancy Act, which has outlawed rough sleeping and begging for 200 years. But it has faced opposition from Conservative MPs and front-line homelessness groups, including Big Issue, over measures that could see rough sleepers face jail or a fine up to £2,500 for an “excessive smell”.
Speaking exclusively to The Big Issue, the insider said they were “ashamed” at having to work on the bill and the experience left them keen to leave the civil service. The government insider, verified by The Big Issue, said: “I have never been so ashamed to call myself a civil servant. The code requires us to work on whatever the government wants us to, but after years of crackpot Tory ideas, I can’t take it any more. Criminalising homelessness has been the straw that has broken the camel’s back.”
The Criminal Justice Bill is currently awaiting its report stage in the House of Commons – the fourth of five stages it needs to pass before moving over to the Lords on its journey into law.
The government insider told us that civil servants are braced for more than 100 amendments to the legislation, which also includes measures to tackle antisocial behaviour, sexual offences and police powers to take on drug and knife crime. They also expect it is unlikely that the bill will pass before the general election or faces being scrapped if a Labour government replaced the Tories. “In my opinion, that would be a good thing. But we can’t bank on that unfortunately,” they said. “I think where we are in the political cycle more broadly: morale in the services is low and the general mood is low. Firstly, it’s not workable. And secondly, in whose public interest is it to criminalise homeless people or those who are struggling to get by? It might be in the Tories’ interest but certainly not the public’s.
“Sometimes, as officials, the best thing we can do is kick things into the long grass and just hope that a change in ministerial direction or a change in government, which is a rarity that we’re rarely afforded, means that we can get rid of these ideas because I don’t think anyone’s enjoying
