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Tell your MP: None of us should be criminalised for being homeless

The UK Government is trying to pass new laws that would criminalise sleeping on the streets with a fine up to £2,500. We can't let this inhumanity happen.

If passed, the Criminal Justice Bill would mean people who are homeless in England and Wales could face fines or even prison for so-called ‘nuisance’ rough sleeping.

The Bill says someone could be considered a ‘nuisance’ if they sleep in a doorway, if they have ‘excessive smell’, or even if they simply ‘look like they are intending to’ sleep rough.

Poverty pushes people into homelessness and the fact that homelessness exists in 2024 is a failure of Government policy.  

This Bill would criminalise and dehumanise those of us that have been failed by a system that should keep all of us safe.

We should treat people who are homeless with dignity and humanity – not with the threat of police action.

The Bill is being debated in the UK Parliament right now. Together, we can stop these plans – but we need MPs to speak out against it.

Will you email your MP asking them to help stop these cruel and unnecessary plans?

How does this relate to the Vagrancy Act?

The UK Parliament voted to repeal the archaic Vagrancy Act of 1824 in February last year. We thought we’d seen the back of it.

Now the UK Government is introducing replacement legislation, via the Criminal Justice Bill, that replicates the worst parts of the Vagrancy Act.

This year is the 200-year anniversary of the passing of the Vagrancy Act. Let this be the year we finally see the back of the criminalisation of homelessness.

Tell your MP: None of us should be criminalised for being homeless

The UK Government is trying to pass new laws that would criminalise sleeping on the streets with a fine up to £2,500. We can't let this inhumanity happen.

If passed, the Criminal Justice Bill would mean people who are homeless in England and Wales could face fines or even prison for so-called ‘nuisance’ rough sleeping.

The fact that homelessness exists in 2024 is a failure of Government policy. This Bill would criminalise and dehumanise those of us that have been failed by a system that should keep all of us safe.

The Bill is being debated in the UK Parliament right now. Together, we can stop these plans – but we need MPs to speak out against it.

Will you email your MP asking them to help stop these cruel and unnecessary plans?

Read more about this action

The Bill says someone could be considered a ‘nuisance’ if they sleep in a doorway, if they have ‘excessive smell’, or even if they simply ‘look like they are intending to’ sleep rough.

Poverty pushes people into homelessness and the fact that homelessness exists in 2024 is a failure of Government policy.  

This Bill would criminalise and dehumanise those of us that have been failed by a system that should keep all of us safe.

We should treat people who are homeless with dignity and humanity – not with the threat of police action.

Will you email your MP asking them to help stop these cruel and unnecessary plans?

How does this relate to the Vagrancy Act?

The UK Parliament voted to repeal the archaic Vagrancy Act of 1824 in February last year. We thought we’d seen the back of it.

Now the UK Government is introducing replacement legislation, via the Criminal Justice Bill, that replicates the worst parts of the Vagrancy Act.

This year is the 200-year anniversary of the passing of the Vagrancy Act. Let this be the year we finally see the back of the criminalisation of homelessness.

Get started by entering your details below so we can find your MP. You can view and edit your email to your MP on the next page.

If you don’t have a permanent or fixed address with a postcode, you could use the postcode of a location where you spend a lot of your time (during the day or night). This might be a day service or night shelter, for example.

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