global justice / health / human rights

Westminster Council and the Soup-run

Monkey5 Comments

Westminster Council wants to ban soup-runs and rough sleeping in the area surrounding Westminster Cathedral. Apparently, Westminster Council has been trying to ban soup-runs for a decade, on the grounds that they encourage rough sleepers. You can read more from the Guardian here. There’s a rant from Johann Hari here.

5 thoughts on “Westminster Council and the Soup-run”

  1. Many thanks for this post! I think it deserves and needs much attention (as much as possible in my opinion).

    I very much appreciated (reading) both of the links provided in the post. I am a little puzzled, however, why you refer to Johann Hari’s link as a “rant”. Although I know nothing about Hari apart from his pieces/news stories in The Independent, I almost always find them incredibly important and informative. He seems to me to have a gift for combining interviews and/or personal stories/narratives with vital information and perspective.

    Should I pay more attention and read more critically, so as to avoid any rants that might deter me from reading better pieces/news stories? (Around here, “rant” carries quite negative connotations. Perhaps the term does not carry them where you are. Could that be it? Or perhaps you disagree with the positions that Hari takes while I agree with them – could that be it?)

    In case anyone is interested, below are links to two of my favorite Hari pieces/news stories:

    Kidnapped. Raped. Married. The extraordinary rebellion of Ethiopia’s abducted wives
    –
    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/abducted-raped-married-can-ethiopias-wives-ever-break-free-1922263.html

    Can one woman save Africa?
    –
    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/can-one-woman-save-africa-1794103.html
    —
    —

  4. Profbigk, I’m still working on my uk slang, but I think they’re referring to a charity van with a soup kitchen inside that makes stops in specific locations where unhoused people tend to congregate: eg, inner city parks, etc.

    Hint: I think they’re referring to Salvation Army vans, but aren’t allowed to use the label for whatever reason.

  5. Oops. Ok, so the Sally’s only one of a number of charities who are about to have their work criminalized.

    This Cameron guy takes milk snatching to a whole new level, doesn’t he?

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