did the council pay for the spikes? if not, i don't see his argument. (edit: ok if it's a council building. fair dues) maybe we could solve the housing shortage by installing more doorways in every building. edit2: sounds like it's not a council building.
Does it really matter who owns it? It's just disgusting that people can do things like this to their fellow man who has fallen on hard times. Next it will be the treadmills and the workhouse.
It's a private block of luxury flats, apparently, and the owner had them installed himself. Boris criticised it as being ugly and "self-defeating", and a lot of the furore (there is a petition) I think is due to it being insulting and inhumane. It does give off a bit of a "homeless people are subhuman" vibe. The "homes not spikes" thing might not be a crack at the council for installing the spikes instead of spending on shelters or whatever (because obviously they didn't have anything to do with the spikes), but rather it may just be making the point that private owners are resorting to installing spikes because not enough has been done at government level to crack down on homelessness. I don't have nearly enough knowledge of the facts to know if that criticism is just, but clearly both the owner of the building and the homeless man are actually largely on the same side. They both want the local government to get him off the street. I do agree with Boris and those petitioning that it's a pretty disgusting thing to do though. Treating the homeless like vermin.
Not that I'm at all unsympathetic to their plight, but you might feel differently if they were sleeping in your front doorway.
For me Joe, it goes hand in hand with the new Sarf London super estates with high fences, entry turnstiles and their own Tonton macout patrols.
I wouldn't be pleased about it. I also wouldn't install spikes. I have a home, albeit with the uncomfortable feeling of there being a man sleeping in my doorway. He has......a doorway.
It's not just an uncomfortable feeling though is it, if every time you leave for work you have to step over him, or maybe he asks you for change. Some people (single women for example) might justifiably find that intimidating. I wish nobody had to sleep on the streets, but the fact is there are places where it's appropriate and places where it isn't appropriate. This is a place where it is definitely not appropriate, and it's really not difficult (if you are determined to sleep outside when if you sought help you probably wouldn't need to) to find somewhere more suitable.
Sooooo you're saying people who sleep rough are only doing it because they're too lazy to find shelter?
it matters that if the council owned it or installed them, it would be a horrendous PR gaffe from an authority responsible for the housing of these people. for a private landlord I don't see the problem. Nobody has tied homeless people down onto the spikes. If they had chosen instead to brick up the alcove it wouldn't have attracted the same attention but it would have ruined the amenity of the doorway for its intended purpose. Some Fakir will come along who doesn't mind it though.
No not at all. There are a lot of reasons why someone might choose to do that. I didn't imply anything about what they might be, just that it's generally better not to (and especially not in a doorway).
As a Pompey fan I'm expected to be a little brusque, but I have say that "Pass the Football" is an ill choice of username for you. Perhaps "It's my football and I'm taking it home" would suit. No offence meant.
If you feel strongly about these spikes, you can go to change.org and sign a petition asking Property Partners and the Mayor of London to remove them. They're installed across several sites. It's worth bearing in mind btw that most homeless people have mental health, alcohol or drug problems, often all three, and that it's not always as simple as getting help for often very complex problems. Whilst help often is available, it's not always on hand where it's needed most, and whilst sleeping in doorways is not a solution to the problem of homelessness, neither is treating human beings like pigeons.
I agree completely and I never said the spikes were a solution to homelessness, they are solution to homeless people sleeping in this particular doorway, which is a perfectly reasonable problem to want to solve (as is homelessness itself, though as you allude to that's not quite as simple).
it's not meant to be a solution to mental health, alcohol or drug problems. it's a solution to misuse of a doorway
are you implying private landlords should be looking to combat mental health issues, alcohol, and drug problems when they find homeless people in their doorways? or that it's not misuse of a doorway?
All it will take is for one person to 'trip' onto these spikes and they will be hastily removed. Any volunteers? They do remind me of the spikes on the fighting platform in Flash Gordon though
