The Guardian report below is about people sleeping in bins. The government has made a promise about it, what it calls a “commitment”. Here it is:
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “It is completely unacceptable that anyone should have to face sleeping in these conditions in modern Britain. This does not reflect the society we should be and this is why we have committed to ending rough sleeping by the end of this parliament.”
Anyone who has followed government promises for any length of time knows this promise will not be kept. We know the government has no intention of keeping it. The government is laughing at the homeless and at us. This ranks as one of the most cynical statements ever to be spewed from the mouth of any government lackey. As for the Secretary of State, words fail me … I wonder if Dickens could ever have thought, in the 19th century, that Scrooge would still be alive and well and stalking the corridors of Whitehall in the 21st century. If the poor would rather die, said Scrooge, “let them do it, and reduce the surplus population.” We mustn’t kid ourselves: this is how the government today thinks about the poor, the homeless, the sick, the elderly, the disabled.
Bob Mouncer's blog 