A crackdown on London's homeless?

I have noticed in the past couple of weeks several of London's homeless people disappearing from their usual places or appearing in unusual ones. I have witnessed Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) moving homeless people on from their desired begging spots in Old Street and London Bridge. I saw what looked like the same homeless man who was moved from outside London Bridge station buckled down inside the station on a walkway between platforms.

So what's going on? Last week I was handed a leaflet by a PCSO encouraging me not to give money to beggars but to charities instead. The cynic in me thought about all the things I had seen in the past few weeks and did not conclude that the authorities had suddenly realised their responsibility to help those with the least in our society. My conclusion instead was that it was decided to clean up the more unsightly aspects of London's streets in the run-up to the Olympic games this summer.

It is incredibly sad that the influx of tourists and the prospect of intense international scrutiny are what it takes to bring the homeless of London into our spotlight. It also convinces me that this initiative, whatever it involves and whatever its purpose, will do nothing to help London's homeless and will instead do everything to make them feel marginalised and outsiders in their own city.