Suella Braverman has caused public uproar over her comments on the national issue of homelessness. The controversy stems from a recent tweet made by the then-Home Secretary, stating that ‘we cannot allow our streets to be taken over by rows of tents occupied by people, many of them from abroad, living on the streets as a lifestyle choice.’

Many have regarded her statement as insensitive to the plight of the homeless across the UK. Housing charity Shelter have recorded 271,000 people in England homeless this year, with 123,000 of those being children. 

Chris Wild, National Campaigner for Young People in Care, responded to Braverman’s tweets with real-life examples of those who were homeless (including himself), demonstrating they did not choose to be so. He referred to an 18-year-old boy from Enfield, London, whose mother died, causing him to become homeless. Wild explains how ‘it was not a lifestyle choice’ for this individual and commenting that he was ‘sure’ the individual ‘would be more than happy to educate [her] on this.’

Many have regarded her statement as insensitive to the plight of the homeless across the UK

Marina Purkiss, a political commentator, followed suit, labelling Braverman’s comments as ‘completely out of touch, senseless and heartless.’

The comments come as Braverman aims to stop the homeless ‘blighting our communities’, hoping to prevent the UK from reaching homelessness levels akin to US cities, such as San Francisco. She has proposed making the distribution of tents to the homeless a civil offence, which would cause charitable organisations to be fined for helping those in need.

Despite the controversy caused by her comments, Braverman has continued to defend her prior opinions. In a recent interview with Sky News, she attempted to justify her position, linking homelessness to drug and alcohol addiction, anti-social behaviour, and criminality. 

Opposition to her comments has also come from the government. Health Secretary Steve Barclay acknowledged the issues raised by Braverman in the Sky News interview are linked to homelessness, but refused to support her divisive comments.

…she attempted to justify her position, linking homelessness to drug and alcohol addiction […] and criminality

Similarly, Nickie Aiken, Conservative MP for the cities of London and Westminster, openly disagreed with the former Home Secretary on BBC Radio 5 Live, rejecting the claim that homelessness is a ‘lifestyle choice’. She stressed that politicians must be ‘very, very careful about the language’ they use when speaking about such sensitive issues.

Following Braverman’s comments, many moderate Tories called for her dismissal, exerting pressure on the Prime Minister to act. Such pressure appeared to have heavily influenced Rishi Sunak, with the Prime Minister dismissing Suella Braverman as Home Secretary on Monday 13th November. 

Prior to this, he had not explicitly show criticism of Braverman’s comments about the homeless, nor her article in the Sunday Times discussing the MET Police’s actions regarding pro-Palestinian protests. However, Sunak did refuse to repeat her controversial comments about the homeless and her proposed tent plans when asked about them.  

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