‘Vote Labour for a clampdown on “aggressive begging”, absolutely grim stuff’ says critic
The right-dominated Labour group in the London borough of Barnet are now attacking beggars in their desperation to appeal to Tory voters, as Keir Starmer’s lack of political substance and vision bites deeper.
In a leaflet distributed to voters in the borough, Labour boasts of ‘reporting aggressive begging by the Co-op and Tescos in Friern Barnet’:
New Socialist editor Tom Gann, no particular friend of the grassroots left despite his job title, having dismissed much of it as ‘crank Corbynism, got it right for once when he observed:
Labour leaflets in Warrington last year attacked Gypsy Roma Traveller communities and were rightly condemned by outraged anti-racists. Now the Labour right is targeting beggars.
All Labour leaflets have to be approved by the central party.
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The S*n shitrag used to try boosting its tanking circulation by delving through this particular gutter. Is anybody here surprised to see Starmer, caked in shite, getting down on all fours and following suit?
Is/was there a problem with shoppers being harassed by aggressive beggars?
Er…no. Obviously.
Really – What makes you so sure?
You, questioning it.
A proper human being would be asking the question ‘why are there people so destitute they have to beg on the street?’
Followed quickly by the question ‘ where is the political party and it’s values which raise that rather than dog whistle the deserving and undeserving poor trope?’
Which is the point where you came in Mr Heep, whistle in mouth.
You’re a sorry and disgraceful specimen of the human species Stevie boy.
Dave – Thanks for the lesson in virtue signalling.
It’s “virtue-signalling” to not be a paternalistic, poorbashing authoritarian now? Yeah, that tracks with you. Thanks for admitting you’re a Thatcherite.
Decent human beings, by contrast, recognise that, in a time of growing poverty, nobody has any right to expect those struggling to survive to obey bourgeois laws. People with Labour values never attack their fellow human beings for begging when they have no alternative but to beg,
Your post was nothing but malice-signalling, SteveH. And it reminds us once again of the nasty, merciless face of Newly Soul Dead Labour
kenburch – …and you managed to extrapolate all that from my few simple words that asked a very simple and pertinent question.“Is/was there a problem with shoppers being harassed by aggressive beggars?” for goodness sake stop making stuff up and get over yourself. 🙄
I don’t have any problem with people in need begging but I do have a problem with it being done in such a manner that makes people feel threatened. Don’t you?
>>> >>> >>> “Thanks for the lesson in virtue signalling.”
That you see ethical endeavours and deferring to a ‘moral compass’ as virtue signalling is worrying stevieh
SteveH, why do you thing people beg? Shouldn’t a labour run authority help desperate people back to gainful employment? or ensure that they get the welfare benefits they are entitled to?
This moves criminalises poverty, it disgust me.
I cannot say I am surprised it is what fascist do. In Spain during Franco’s governments male gypsies were routinely round up and thrown in prison for begin.
I am afraid the mask of your darling Starmer is slipping and I and many others will not vote Labour while it persists in pursuing this type of policies.
I am so relieved I left the Labour Party after 30 years membership, no in my name.
Maria – “Shouldn’t a labour run authority help desperate people back to gainful employment? or ensure that they get the welfare benefits they are entitled to?”
How could any right minded person disagree and within the budgetary constraints that have been forced on them by the Conservative government most LAs will be doing what they can. But the issue highlighted in the above article is specifically about aggressive begging which is a different issue. Surely you aren’t condoning the aggressive harassment of shoppers.
SteveH, the definition of aggressive varies for person to person. For some people the mere presence of a beggar offends them and could be misconstrued as aggression.
Does the local Labour Authority offers any example as to what form the aggression are the shoppers facing?
I find a regular occurrence for a group of three beggars to seat on the street outside the local Tesco and Co-Op in my town I would like to argue the reason they chose the Co-Op and Tesco is because they are the favoured supermarkets of people like myself. I often ask them if they would like me to buy them some food or sandwiches and I am not the only one in offering them food, I see others doing the same giving them donuts or biscuits.
On rare occasions I have found out a stack up shopper than tells me not to give the beggars anything, because I encouraging their begin, nothing to do with them been aggressive.
Maria – I did a quick search and came across this small example on twitter, do you think this could be legitimately categorised as aggressive begging?
Alfa Delta WomanRed heartMan
@AlfaDeltaUK
·13 Dec 2021
(1 of 2) Umm…what kind of warning did you give them exactly? Because they’re starting to take it too far. Today one of them asked me for change, I said I didn’t have any, he kept asking, I opened my wallet and showed him to prove it and then he followed me to my car and /1
(2 of 2) asked me if I had any change in the car, I said no again & he came right next to me to look & saw a 20p coin under the info system that I didn’t even remember was there. That was at 9:30pm.
I feel for them but that was scary. There’s more & more every day. Do something!
https://twitter.com/AlfaDeltaUK/status/1470522916370530304
I do wonder sometimes if the Tories refuse to address the problem of homelessness to serve as a warning to us all that our lives could so easily be a lot worse if we don’t conform. I count myself lucky that I have never been in this desperate position.
You’re hung up on the useless discredited concept of enforcing laws for the SAKE of enforcing a laws- a concept only people with no decent or humane values at all agree with.
You mention tight finances for Labour-run authorities- would you not agree that Starmer should abolish rate- capping and allow local authorities to have the funds they need to actually govern in accord with Labour principles?
Without that, no Labour council can BE a Labour council in anything but name- and the difference between Labour austerity and Tory austerity is meaningless.
kenburch – Am I really, where did I say that?
Of course I agree that Local Authorities should be adequately funded, however I do have my doubts about your chosen source of funding being the right one.
Your last paragraph is just meaningless rhetoric.
“Aggressive begging by the Coop and Tesco”? Were they begging people to buy their food?
Surely they mean “aggressive begging near the Coop and Tesco”.
I’ve seen a variety of reactions to people begging, and some of it baffles me.
Some people get really het up if a beggar walks up and asks for some money. Is that “aggressive” begging?
I wouldn’t call that aggressive.
If there has been real aggression, then that constitutes common assault. Is that what is meant in the leaflet? They should make it clear.
Surely, what the LP should be doing is highlighting the ills of our society that lead to people begging.
Goldbach. It’s all bollocks. Aggressive begging sounds like demanding money with menaces, a criminal offence. Corner of the yard would have the centre sealed off, snipers, tasers, batons:in fact, the bill around here are proud of how they menace Big Issue sellers. I know someone who tries to find copies of the Big Issue, then walks about for a week with it prominently displayed. All because they don’t want to splash out a couple of bob to help the unfortunate. You remember, Labours reason dieter. Thankfully, Skwawkies comment section doesn’t include such people.
That’s right. Don’t let my proclivity for understatement mislead you.
If I am asked for a donation and I can help I do. End of contract. They decide what to do with it. If the boot were on the other foot, it would be cider every time. Life is shit on the streets.
Shitstained, billionaire beggars with the law weighted in their favour and the ability to create millions of homeless people across continents are the biggest problem here.
“reported aggressive begging by the Coop and Tescos.”
Why are the Coop and Tescos begging?
I dare say the Labour Party will soon be doing some begging of its own now that it is nearing bankruptcy?
🤣
Well said Tony..
… in fact the Labour Party has already started
begging!
I am informed, by a contact in the area, that the LP continues to be in a bind as a result of the data breach. Consequently, constituencies and branches can’t be sent details of anyone who has joined/left since the data breach. This results in people who have left still being sent minutes/agendas/other documents etc. and any new members being unaware of what is happening unless someone locally knows they have joined and tells them or tells the secretary. One result could be that people who have left may be attending meetings, and voting; or that secretaries could have been told some have joined when they haven’t and they could be doing the same.
Still, it’s good to see the LP has become a professional organisation over the past couple of years.
The Labour Party have already started aggressive begging….They must be really bankrupt, because despite having resigned one minute after Starmer was crowned they still send me letters asking for money. They’re gonna need some cash when all the Data Breach writs land on their doorstep.
Labour have not denied a data breach but are trying to shift the blame to a Ltd company who are all old Surrey \South London chums
.We shall see if they can survive the writs that are being thrown around the bunker at southside like confetti
adressed to the Labour party and some the the leader of the Labour party .Thats a conundrum for the gang to figure but the Labour party are surely bankrupt unless they can stall this for years and years
Just when I thought Starmers Labour could sink no lower this happens
I’ve said it many times before… They’re lower than whaleshite – and that sinks to the bottom of the ocean.
The thing is, this particular load of whaleshite seems to have found a fissure that continues all the way to the earth’s core They have by no means finished sinking lower still.
Like the toerags, this load of imposters would happily see a return to the feudal system of medieval times.
I’ll bet it’s comical watching keef try to tug his forelock to his paymastera…The amount of grease on his barnet means his digits keep sliding off all the time.
They should rightly be referred to as the ‘undeserving poor’ in New Labour speak.
Andy
Roy Hattersley would have been regarded as right wing in his day but now by Starmer’s standards he would be “hard left”. I always liked the way he put down talk about the “undeserving poor”. He rightly said that we never hear about the “undeserving rich”.
Just as then there are plenty of them in parliament including Starmer and Reeves and most of the shadow cabinet and front bench.
Right on Smartboy. Didn’t the arch cold warrior, Healey, say about the rich,”we will tax them till the pips squeak”.
there’s them and there’s US. why is no one asking why dependency on state doles keeps growing piecemeal when the answer is simply a dignified national income with rights to health and home?
Interesting…just how do they intend to enforce this begging issue.The reason that the authorities dont like begging is because it shows that their policys have failed.My wife always hands money to beggers and so do I.The last time we did in the uk was outside Brighton station were a copper intervened and being the person I am I walked back to were the cop had intervened and gave some money to the poor man myself to make a point that I give money to whom I wish on public land..ITs the right of anyone to help the poor but when the police intervene its our duty along with the poor to reject any attempt to practice our religious beliefs and our moral duty.. “..God damm starmer and all who sail under him “
I see that the UK are sending troops to the Ukrainian border with Russia along with 3000 uncle sam devotees.Theres a sign of two world leaders Johnston and Biden in trouble in their own countries and willing to risk a war to save their own necks…Even the fascist Ukrainian government are panicking that it is going too far and are now backtracking realising that they are pawns in a global game of who controls Europe.IT could be a new form of war cutting oil and gas to Europe and raiding the banks to grab assets and gold.IT will soon be the banksters in the city of London panicking .and we shall soon see who cntrols not only Europe but the western world.,and its not a drunken clown or a senile old molester…. “.Welcome to the free world “
Joseph – Which just goes to show how desperately insecure Putin is, he’s the one that started all this nonsense.
Putin carried out the coup in Kiev? Putin banned the use of the Russian language in Ukraine? Putin refused to implement the Minsk Accords, signed by Ukraine, which would end the problems tomorrow? Putin was responsible for burning the TU Centre in Odessa and preventing the 40 people working there from escaping the fire?
No he wasn’t.
Russia is absolutely right to protect the victims of Nazi militia gangs, armed and supported by NATO. And Russia is right too, in calling for an end to the race towards nuclear war. And Britain, by the way is likely to be the first casualty in any war between Russia and the US.
GDH Cole warned the country in 1946 that there was only one greater danger than being taken over by the Soviet Union and that was falling under the rule of the United States. He was right.
bevin – Oh ffs get a grip are you really that gullible.. Putin is an authoritarian dictator with a Napoleon syndrome. He’s a fascist thug not a socialist hero.
There’s a reason why the former USSR states don’t want f’ all to do with Putin’s Russian State.
And a matter of a organised group of Nazis burning down their senate and grabbing power under the direction of the CIA and funded by USA..
Steve H fascist dad. Nato are an American funded puppet centred in the USA and under the authorities who sponsor black opps assassinations and war across the world including here in S.East Asia were the desperate USA are showing there impotence of being able to control the S.China sea(the clue is in the name).Europe may catch on,but even then it looks a little too late when peacmakers are ridiculed or demonised or both like Corbyn.and any attempt to try to show reason and lodjic is met with sabre rattling or in the case of Europe and the West sailing to the other side of the world to threaten and intimidate the majority of the population of the world…!
iT won’t work anymore the natives have thrown off the shackles of empire and are liberated armed and dangerous.Our comrades in Russia have shown the fascists that she will not bow to fascism and the same with China who showed the Japanese empire that rape and pillaging China was the end of their empire and the beginning of subservience to the new emperor in Washington…..beware the rise of fascism comrades..!
Joseph – Oh dearie, dearie me.
You do have a rather weird proclivity for siding with authoritarian dictatorships don’t you .
Steve H fascist dad….You are beginning to make Adolf Hitler and joe Stalin sound like patriotic centrists….Just look at how far youve come in the short term that fascism grabbed the Labour party…!you wernt always like this Steve H Hall you were a centrist broad church brigade disciple. and look what youve become former comrade a man on a mission to destroy the concept of working class representation..The old saying of “its not his fault he got in with a bad lot “could so easily apply to you and many others in the Labour party that have dumped morality and dispise the poor beggers and the majority of the working-class who are only a few weeks of unemployment away from being on the streets themselves
.And also remember that when you are sipping your martini in your tropical island that you and your beer swilling partytime leader are only a few bottles more from being on the streets yourselves….anyone of us can loose money and family with illness and alcoholism,so show some respect mr H Hall.
Joseph – Are you feeling better now?
Steve H fascist dad. actually today I am feeling fighting fit “and unlike you I have had a breakfast of hot soup with” little soldiers “for dipping into.Traditional here and very soothing.I have been out tested the water source and fed the chickens and even moved a snake from our bridge across the rice fields without actually killing it.We have had heavy rain overnight and unbelievably in the beginning of February the middle of the dry season the rice fields are green and growing again..We hope and pray that people like you see the “light” soon and its not a mushroom cloud former comrade….regards from ☺☺☺happy people of Cambodia.
SteveH03/02/2022 AT 2:21 AM
Joseph – Oh dearie, dearie me.
You do have a rather weird proclivity for siding with authoritarian dictatorships don’t you .
Keef & dave said to say ‘hello’
Toffee I never thought I would see the day that the possibility of a Labour government would make me very worried about the future for the UK.I could never vote for the conservative and unionist party and I never will but I certainly would hope that a party develops from the ashes of the Labour party..In the meantime litterly the conservative party are about to punish the working-class people with massive loading of the debts on the shoulders of a already debt ridden working-class.The Torys have thrown money around like confetti to the old chums and themselves and we are all of us including me are about to pay for it….Even himself in the Caribbean bolt hole will have to pay for the neo liberal alliance.?
Dear SH,
I generally read your comments with interest, though I often tend to pass when you get into silly slanging matches with those whom you seem to like to annoy. I often disagree with much of what you say and frequently regard your comments as being more to do with your anti-socialism than to do with the core content of the report about which people are commenting. However, that said, you would appear to have a degree of detailed knowledge of a number of the subjects that are covered.
The same cannot be said of your knowledge and understanding of geopolitics, as is demonstrated by some of your comments above.
E.g. “Which just goes to show how desperately insecure Putin is, he’s the one that started all this nonsense.” and “Putin is an authoritarian dictator with a Napoleon syndrome.”
If you want to be able to comment on matters concerning Russia, China, etc. etc. I suggest you do a little reading first.
A good place to start for Russia (and to an extent China) is with Ray McGovern, a retired CIA analyst who was head of the CIA’s Russia section for many years. Other well informed sources are Patrick Lawrence, a US commentator, and Scott Ritter, of whom you must have heard.
You would then be able to comment with some knowledge rather than coming out with a bit of naive pop-psychology, and a comment that shows you have no knowledge of what started “all this nonsense”.
It is not necessary to be a fan of Putin, or to think it would be a wonderful idea to live in Russia, to know that your knowledge of the subject is woeful.
Once again, please read the many articles by the three people I have mentioned, and have a pina colada and enjoy the day.
Yours
goldbach