Latest / The Discussion Podcast / The Lunch Discussion: View From The Street - 5,000 Reasons to Care about Homelessness - Aug 2026

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The Lunch Discussion: View From The Street - 5,000 Reasons to Care about Homelessness - Aug 2026 · The Discussion Podcast

0:00
This is the Late Late Lunch Show with Rod Maxwell. Supported by... That's for,
0:07
you, Ty! Tower bed learning in nature's playground. On view from the street,
0:12
myself and James were out talking about poverty, talking about homelessness
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and talking about living on the streets and,
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James is coming to me live from Altrincham now. James, how are you?
0:24
I'm good thanks, Rod. Just sitting in our seats from earlier for lunch.
0:28
Yes, yeah, it was a bit of a flying lunch, wasn't it, really?
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But, James, there's not... It was a late, late lunch on the late,
0:37
late lunch show. It really was a late, late lunch, I'll tell you.
0:41
I think I sat down in my seat about a minute ago to the show.
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But we've tackled a lot of, I think, reasonably big topics in the past. but.
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I don't think anything comes as, I don't know, almost emotionally touching and
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as challenging a topic as the one we talked about today,
1:04
talking about homelessness and talking about people on the streets.
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And also, I have to admit, a sense of frustration and helplessness.
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What do you think of this topic, James? I think it's a very complex topic.
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I think it's complicated, and I think it's one that people aren't very well
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informed of, because when we have asked some people, especially the young people,
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they weren't really sure what to say, didn't have much of an opinion.
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So I think it's something that people care about, that people definitely care
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about it, but I think that people aren't, they're probably the same as the politicians,
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in the sense that they don't have the right knowledge to deal with it.
1:44
Yeah, do you think also there's a bit of social taboo around this?
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It's very easy to, number one, jump to conclusions, but at the same time, it's also easy...
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It can sometimes be difficult to find the right language for it and not be patronizing.
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Do you think there's an element of that?
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Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's a bit like people think it is politics,
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so then they just start getting anxious and don't want to talk about it.
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And we know, even in the street, that when it's like a nice,
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fluffy topic, they want to talk about it.
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But then when it's something that is either controversial or something along
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these lines, they don't have as much of a willingness to come and stop and talk
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to us, which means I had to,
2:27
stick my finger out and help you out because normally you sweep up all the vox
2:30
pop, but I had to help out because these were talking up the crowd today.
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And part of that is people struggle to find the right language sometimes about it.
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Because the reason, I mean, the stat that we talked about today was that a recent
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poll said there were 5,000 people living in England alone who are living on the streets.
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They are homeless essentially it didn't go down to the break it didn't go into
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the breakdown of the different reasons for that there'll be but there'll be some people who,
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have you know are on the streets because of economic situations whether that
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could be addiction could be losing their job losing their home it could be that
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it could be to do with a marriage breakdown or relationship break down but it's,
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there's many reasons why somebody can end up finding that the streets are their homes and,
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at the same time there's people who,
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have become so used to it that any anything other than the streets feels alien
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to them so it seems like a really really difficult topic because there is no,
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there never is one simple solution there's never just one story there's so many stories and in fact.
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I bet you if you looked at the 5,000 people who apparently are on the streets
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and I'm sure it's more than that you could end up with 5,000 different stories you know but it's,
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It just seems like in today's society, this is a knot we haven't cracked.
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We seem to be struggling with it. Would you agree?
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There's plenty of views on it, but I don't think there's enough coherence to
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nail down proper strategy and proper solution.
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I think it's a bit wishy-washy. It's almost a bit like NHS waiting battles or
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NHS or the similar issues or social care. It's such a void, a black hole that
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people don't know what to do.
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I think that it should be very simple in the sense that you take away that whole
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people's free choices to be on the street because it's not obviously a nice
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thing for them to choose that.
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So therefore, if you're able to take that choice out of their hands,
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you say, if a lot of them are on alcohol or drugs, there should be a quick rapid
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intervention to get them off alcohol and drugs so that they're clean of that.
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And then you can help to house them, rehabilitate them and get them into work.
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So they need to have work and housing and then you tick those off and you go
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through a very structured approach.
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But there is no approach. But you make two interesting points there.
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One point is often that the reason why somebody is on the streets is linked to a core, a root cause.
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And for some people that will be addiction.
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And therefore, unless you can
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solve the addiction, you won't solve their issue of being on the streets.
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They'll find themselves back on the streets. But at the same time,
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should society determine that everybody should live in a home or a house or whatever?
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You know, in a free society, can we dictate that everybody needs to basically
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have an abode? You know, I don't know the answer to that.
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I just think that if they're putting millions and millions and millions of 400
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million into this, then they must be able to get experts.
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There must be experts in this country. We obviously have a very skilled country,
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very skilled professionals.
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They must have very good skills to get people off addiction.
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And it should be in the country's interest to get people off addiction and help them.
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They actually owe that sort of duty of care to help their citizens and help
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people. At the same time, James, we heard stories today.
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And it'll come up in one of the Fox Pops. Really? It's not just addiction, is it?
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There's bureaucracy in the system. This is The Late Late Lunch Show with Rod
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Maxwell. Supported by...
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Where little explorers grow naturally. So, good morning, Rod. How are you doing?
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It is morning. Normally it's afternoon, but we started early today.
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How are you, James? Yes, I'm all right, thanks, Rod. We're starting,
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what, three minutes early?
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Well, yes, but we met at half the 11th, so that's still essentially the morning.
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Anyway, it's a gorgeous day here in Altria. It really is, isn't it,
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Rod? And when I was driving here, it was nice weather today,
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actually. I think we're spoiled for the weather today.
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We've been spoiled for the weather all summer, almost. But that links to the
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topic today on View from the Street. It does, Rod. It does.
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Because we're going to be talking about homelessness or people's rough sleeping.
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And you'll have seen that Andy Burnham has made a pledge that across the nation
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this Christmas that there'll be less people on the streets than normal.
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And he's increasing the funding of $442 million to tackle this issue.
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And apparently, James, there's nearly 5,000 people on average a night sleeping
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rough on the streets of England.
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So really the question is, is there anything that can be done?
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Because for some people it is lifestyle. for some people it is they fall into
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bad difficult ways it's not their choice but I'm really interested to find out what people.
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Here and ultimately think about it and i'm talking to some we're making a focus
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across the week on the show so we're talking to some charities on wednesday
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to find their perspective and how they help people but it's it's you know five
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thousand people is that a lot i think it is you know,
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it is i think it is as well we actually did this topic three years ago in season
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three so three summers ago we did it and we got some really good information
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i think we were going to spin it out into a second episode because there was
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a lot on it and you enjoyed doing that and i think the,
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You know, we, you know, during lockdown and COVID, we managed to sort this.
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We got people off the streets then, but we can do it in waves.
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We can do it when there's focus and Christmas is a focus. But to be honest with
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you, Christmas can't just be a one-off. It has to be tackled more long-term
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because it has an impact on all aspects of society.
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You know, not just the people sleeping rough, but for the communities as well.
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So, and for the health service, because they've got to look after them.
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So there's so many aspects but really you know fundamental is how many is too
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many you know what is it what is a.
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Is there even a legitimate number even if you had 10 in the country sleeping
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rough is that right you know yeah and they also need to find out,
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whether Andy Burnham was successful in Manchester and whatever his strategy
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is nationally to copy what he did in Manchester is it possible to have,
9:04
a national focus yeah that is true and again it's about the long term You know, are we,
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I've got fewer people on the streets of Greater Manchester today than we had
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before he started his focus, you know?
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So, but I'm really interested today to find out what people on Ultringham think.
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Cause you know, there's quite a few people here that would never even consider
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the idea of rough sleeping. So are they, are they the privileged few?
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Are they, are they aware of the issue? Let's find out. Yeah, let's find out. Yeah.
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So today on View from the Street, we're asking people about homelessness.
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5,000 people sleeping rough every night in England.
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Do you think there's inevitability about this? Or even if you had 100 people
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sleeping rough, it would be too many?
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See, I mean, that's the thing is you could always make shelters for people to
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sleep or make conditions that you think are going to be better for them.
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But people are always going to have the free will of choice of whether they
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want to sleep in these places or not.
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So I think at the end of the day, you're never really going to put a full stop to it.
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It's just going to be people's choice and and putting a number on it does 5
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000 shock you do you think that's a lot per night in england.
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I that i don't know i mean seeing how many we have around i think the numbers decreased over time,
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but then then when you think about it like 5 000 compared to the population
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doesn't sound a lot but then when you think about it it's so many people at
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the same time it's 5 000 lives isn't it exactly,
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yeah but it's it's do you think it's fair as the government puts it in focus
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and gets it into our consciousness,
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yeah i think i think that's fair i mean that there's there's a lot of priorities
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that that the government has and a lot of things that they want to cover but
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homelessness definitely should be,
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one of them but But like I say, it's hard to come to a term where you have like
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a final solution because, yeah, at the end of the day, it's just people's choice.
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It's complicated, isn't it? Yeah, very.
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It is. Rightful thank you for stopping. The Late Late Lunch Show with Back to
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the Garden Childcare. Natural beginnings for bright futures.
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So, good afternoon, ladies. This is James Spence and Rob Maxwell for the show,
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Read From the Street on Radio Alty.
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And today we're asking about homelessness. And I just wanted to ask you what
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your opinion was on Andy Burnham's strategy to have the government try to have,
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more people off the streets. What's your opinion on this?
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Well, it should have more people off the streets. They did say that in Manchester,
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where they've got the arches, that was making like a pod for the homeless to
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go into and they'll have their own code.
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Has that taken place? I don't know.
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But also, it needs to not wait until Christmas time. Like they usually say,
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oh, we'll get them off the streets for Christmas time.
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I don't think that's right. Fair enough, there's some homeless that are quite
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happy to be on the streets, but the majority of them need to be somewhere safe,
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you know, and, you know, it needs to be somewhere safe.
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Do you think the focus on Christmas is a bit of tokenism? Because actually you
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can solve it for Christmas, maybe, but it's what you do the rest of the time. No, you've got to.
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It's not a one-off. No, it's not a one-off.
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They've got to do something about it. It's all talk, I'm sorry.
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Is all talk and there's no action. There's a problem because people...
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Some people are working. They can't find a reasonable rent, can they?
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So some people are working and living in tents because they've got nowhere to
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live. Or they're living in the car. Or in the car.
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It's not fair, is it? Because they can't afford rent because the landlords,
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I mean, I know they can't shut them out now, but they're putting their rents up all the time.
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So there's more and more people with families, our people, that are being made homeless.
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And it's wrong Yeah And it's It's not an easy Problem to fix Is it?
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Because there are so many Links to it Don't there? Yeah there are Where do you put all the people?
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I mean they've built those things Under the arches in Manchester Haven't they?
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Have they? Have they? I don't know Yeah They've actually done those Yeah I think
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there are some I don't know if it was the council Or it was the private Person
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that's done those Because Trying to help Homeless people,
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You know In like I thought You know in like the buildings in Manchester where
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there's nobody inside them, they've got big buildings It's warehouses, aren't they?
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Why don't you use them to make little... Those where people where they can go.
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So good afternoon sir, today on View from the Street we're asking people about
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homelessness, people sleeping rough. Apparently the latest statistics say 5,000
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people in England alone sleep rough every night and the government seems to
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be putting a focus on this.
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What's your thoughts on the size of the challenge and the reasons for it?
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Well, my honest opinion, there's a lot of self-inflicted.
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There's self-inflicted, it's like the sleeping rug.
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There are the drugs, alcohol, other things, what goes on in this world today.
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But there's a lot of young men come out of the forces and they've nowhere to go.
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And that's what they've got to keep their eye on, them men who come out of the forces.
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And they'd know where to go because they get that disease, I can't remember what it's called, PTSD.
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I've seen these homeless lads that come out of the forces and they've done a lot.
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It's affected them being in Afghanistan, Iraq.
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I knew a lad who was in Iraq.
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He was driving an armoured car behind the one in front and 15 of his men got killed through.
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American aircraft firing at it. Yeah, friendly fire. Friendly fire, as you call it.
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It affects these people in many different ways.
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That's all I can say. You know what? It seems to me that there might be 5,000
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people sleeping rough every night, but there could be 5,000 different reasons,
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5,000 different stories.
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There's not one size fist hole, is there? I'm not the same because nobody can pinpoint it.
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A lot, like I say, a lot of them are self-expecting.
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That's their choice. It's their choice.
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And the forces, lads.
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Other reasons. Yeah. Mental reasons. Yeah. Good. Thank you for your review. Thank you.
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This is the Late Late Lunch Show with Rod Maxwell. Supported by...
15:50
Childbed learning in nature's playground. Can I ask you, when you hear the number
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5,000 a night in England alone, do you think that's a big number?
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Did it surprise you? Or do you think actually there might even be more than
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that? What's your reaction to 5,000? In the country, I bet there's more.
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In our country, it's a total, I bet there's more than that.
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We're left, we're put aside. Well, I'm sorry, and I don't want to offend anyone,
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but, you know, they're coming in, they're having hands out,
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and our people are having to justify why they should be getting the benefits and to helping them.
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So you think it's a reasonable topic, you think there should be more focus on
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it? Of course, yeah, more focus, but something's done about it.
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We're all talking, but he's not listening. So I think something's going on,
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personally. They've signed something.
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The government have signed something. The Home Office have signed something.
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Look how they're doing these £250,000 houses that they're giving them.
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Why aren't they helping the homeless? It's disgusting. Thank you.
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Thank you very much indeed. Thank you, guys.
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So good afternoon, sir. This is Jay Spencer and Rob Maxwell for the Late Late
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Lunch show, View from the Street on Radio Alty.
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And we're just asking today about homelessness about Andy Burnham's agenda to,
17:07
improve the situation with homelessness I just wanted to know what your opinion was on this topic,
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well I don't think they will change anything to be honest with you I mean I've
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been homeless now for six seven weeks I've rang the council I've gone through
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every avenue I've tried everything,
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and there's just no help out there there really isn't no help out there can
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I just say because We walked up to you and I wouldn't have thought for a minute until I saw your bags.
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What led you to essentially be homeless?
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I lost my partner, so it was a flat, but I couldn't take over to Tennessee,
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so they tried to find me somewhere. They put me in Newton Heath, which I don't even know.
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We shared a combination with six people, one kitchen and a little room each.
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And what they were doing, they're all on drugs. They get a lot.
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They get pipped. They get everything. But they spend every penny on drugs.
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So you put your food in the fridge.
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They steal it through the night. They get up in the middle of the night. They pinch your milk.
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Any food you put in that fridge, they will eat. They'll steal it.
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So i can't live like that and they wreck the place rather than wash panels and
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pots there's only one kitchen they'll throw me in a bin that you there's just
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no respect for anybody they go to pick it early shoplifting and and the police were there,
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i bet twice a week looking for them because they're all been shoplifting it's
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horrendous and essentially you would rather be on your own on the streets here and i felt threatened,
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because they're all they put crack pipes on the table in the kitchen that they
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spend every penny they've got on crack and it's frightening.
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And a focus on one time of the year christmas really does it's a bit tokenism
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do you think oh christmas is a horrible time for people i i've not had a nice
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christmas for a long time since i've lost father i've lost my mother i've lost my partner
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and it's just a very lonely place and you don't reach out to help for your family
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because you're embarrassed so,
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they're all busy they've got children they've got lives so you don't want you
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don't want my other people you try and do it on your own but I told you I rang
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the council and and what you have to do you get the homeless people come out,
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the homeless who are supposed to help you they have to prove you're sleeping
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rough they come they come and look for you
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they see you're sleeping rough and then they said to me the council rang me
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up the next day and they said right ask me low that I must have been on phone
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three quarters of an hour
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then they said right well you've got a meeting on the 21st of September I said
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a phone meeting I said well what am I supposed to do till then we'll carry on
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doing what you're doing.
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It's shocking. This is the Late Late Lunch Show with Rod Maxwell. Supported by.
19:35
Where little explorers grow naturally. So good afternoon guys.
19:38
On a few from the street today we're asking about homelessness and little stats
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suggest around 5,000 people in England alone sleep rough every night.
19:46
Now what do you think of this as a topic?
19:50
You know do you think this is a topic that's worth a lot of focus from the government, from the PM?
19:55
Yeah definitely because at the moment I'm up in Sheffield so in Sheffield a
19:59
lot of the chairs over there where the public is, they all have prickles and
20:03
they're made to be extremely uncomfortable so that the homeless people can't go on them.
20:07
So I think it would be very beneficial
20:09
if they change that to make it more welcoming for those who struggle.
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And on the topic of why people end up on the streets, do you think it's always
20:19
self-inflicted? Do you think people fall on hard times?
20:22
But do you think it's just too difficult sometimes to get out of that?
20:25
What's your thoughts? Do you have much empathy, if you like,
20:28
for people who were on the streets well yeah of course because you never know
20:31
what situation they've been in in their life so you don't know if it's something
20:34
that was self-inflicted from their own something that they brought upon themselves
20:37
or if it was just a struggle that was out of their hands so
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either way i think everybody should have the same empathy which whatever their
20:43
circumstances so do you think it's worth the government having a renewed focus
20:47
on this so at the moment and burnham wants to.
20:50
Solve it for christmas but should we actually be trying to solve it all year round,
20:56
Well, yeah, definitely. But I think it's better to focus on it until Christmas
20:59
because the winter's coming and people are definitely going to struggle harder
21:03
now since the weather's getting colder.
21:05
So do you think by focusing on Christmas, it raises people's awareness of it,
21:10
it gives it focus, and then you can maybe move on and do something more after that?
21:15
It's because a tighter schedule would make it so people focus more on it and,
21:19
definitely advertising the issue would help raise awareness.
21:23
Okay, thank you very much indeed. Thank you.
21:26
And i mean what do you think would help there's got to be property somewhere
21:32
for people to well they put people in hotels don't they,
21:36
and i'm not racist by any way shape i mean but if they can put foreigners in
21:40
hotels why can't they do that with us why can't they put us there must be somewhere
21:45
they can put us but they're quite happy to see you on the streets but they won't
21:48
look like these other people who've never paid taxes insurance,
21:51
but they put them in hotels but their own they can't They can't put you anywhere.
21:56
Temporary. Can't they just put you in a hotel somewhere? I don't expect many calls.
22:00
And from what you said, shared accommodation doesn't really work because you
22:03
don't know who you're going to be sharing with. Can I tell you something?
22:06
Shared accommodation is...
22:08
The six i was the sixth person in there and the other five people were all wrong
22:14
people and i told you whatever you could not put anything in because you couldn't
22:18
put salt and pepper you couldn't put a cup of soup they'll just steal it,
22:21
because they will not spend money on anything and then what they decided to do,
22:27
they they changed the tenancy agreement it was all it was 600 pound a month
22:31
with gas and electric included and then what did they changed the tenancy said
22:35
it was a knew it wasn't the same people
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then they said you've got to pay your own gas and electric but not individual
22:42
room it was just for that building so you would tell me how am i going to pay
22:45
for gas and electricity how do i get money off people who spend every penny
22:49
on drugs there's no gas electricity
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i can't live like that no more i'm not doing it well here and best of luck to
22:54
you thank you very much thank you thank you,
22:57
so good afternoon this is jay spencer and rob maxwell for view from the street
23:00
on radio alty and we just wanted to ask you about homelessness and just wanted
23:03
to know from you, what do you think of Andy Burnham's pledge to try and end homelessness?
23:08
I think it's honourable, but I don't know if it will be, yeah, realistic. Because?
23:14
It's just a very big issue with lots of different layers to it, really.
23:20
And there's so many issues with welfare anyway, regardless. Like,
23:24
how can you prioritise...
23:26
The biggest welfare issue at the minute like you hear about what's happening
23:30
in brick lane with like the new data center being built and like how housing's
23:35
an issue like i just don't know how it's,
23:37
how it's ever going to be i don't know solved do you think that maybe there's
23:41
the the choice element to it do you think that it's it's impossible or do you
23:45
think that it's between no with homelessness do you think it's impossible to solve,
23:49
do you think it's something that you can't resolve i mean i don't want to sound
23:54
negative i hope there is 100,
23:56
i want there to be positiveness around it and like i want there to be a solution
24:00
to it but i don't think it's going to be happen within like 12 months or anything like i think it's,
24:05
something you have to commit to from a societal point of view and yeah.
24:09
It just has to be number one priority it's gonna take time and yeah a lot of
24:12
people getting involved to support it,
24:15
do you think that he did well in manchester because in manchester he says that
24:18
he did one better night a better night strategy and he did take people off the
24:22
streets of manchester even though i actually spoke to him at the mayor of manchester
24:25
questions do you not have a task force to try and get people off the street and he says oh we do
24:28
but then you still see a lot of homelessness i think it's gotten worse,
24:32
we live in nancotes and near new islington tram stop now there's like a,
24:37
it's like a bit of a tent village going on there and it's awful like you go
24:42
near general store in nancotes and it's always someone i ask them for help it's
24:46
just i don't think it's gotten better,
24:49
so you think there's the i found the right word and a degree of inevitability about it,
24:53
yeah i'd say so like,
24:56
i i don't think i've seen any improvement in manchester per se than if you go
25:00
to london like leeds manchester they're all quite similar and it's quite upsetting but,
25:06
there's only so much you can do as like it's like the general public to tackle
25:10
it yeah the last question is do you think unlike his predecessors andy burnham
25:15
could be successful yeah.
25:17
Yeah, I like him so far. Are you talking about him in general?
25:20
No, about homelessness. Do
25:21
you think he might be able to do something that other people haven't done?
25:24
Yeah, I think he sees it more of a priority than others have seen it.
25:28
So I believe he'll make an impact. I just don't know how big that will be.
25:33
Okay, good afternoon, Sammy. This is James and Rod from you from the street
25:36
on Radio World. I just want to ask you about the topic of homelessness.
25:38
So I think you were just talking about Andy Burnham just now,
25:40
where he's saying that he can resolve it all. But do you think he can?
25:44
I think you can have a good crack at it. But I think there's a great many people,
25:50
who are actually begging on the streets when they do actually have accommodation.
25:56
So even if he sorts out the homelessness, there'll still be beggars.
26:00
And there's just far too many beggars now. I was in Glasgow recently and they were just everywhere.
26:06
And of course, it's not just Glasgow, it's anywhere and everywhere.
26:11
And even smart towns like Lancaster and all the tents and doorways.
26:16
So it is, I mean, it's not going to become like the third world, for heaven's sake.
26:22
I've got every faith in Andy Burnham. I've met him, a right gentleman, you know.
26:27
I met him on the city homecoming and he took time. Just on his own,
26:30
he took time and spoke to me.
26:32
And I think he's certainly the man to deal with these problems.
26:37
And he's younger than me as well, you know, but very clever man very very clever,
26:41
he went to Cambridge so do you think that he's he's qualified enough.
26:45
To handle this I didn't even know he went to Cambridge I just thought he was
26:49
naturally read English literature I think I didn't even know that I just thought
26:53
he was naturally clever you know,
26:56
I mean, look, a friend of mine, he got offered a place at Glasgow Academy,
27:01
a fee-paying school, only he didn't have to pay. They just wanted his brains in there.
27:07
But he said no, and his parents said no, so he got offered it,
27:10
and he didn't jump out of the chance.
27:13
So, good afternoon. Today on Feuth in the Street on Radio Alty,
27:16
we're asking people about the topic of homelessness. 5,000 people sleep rough
27:20
every night on the streets of England alone.
27:22
The government's got some renewed focus on this and possibly around Christmas,
27:26
but also what we're asking is Christmas enough, really?
27:30
What do you think about the topic? Is it too many? Is it too complicated? Is it worth tackling?
27:37
It is worth tackling. I think it's disgusting. Our homeless should take priority
27:41
of all these other people that are coming in, getting everything first.
27:45
Our veterans should be a priority.
27:47
There shouldn't be any British homeless on the streets at all.
27:51
And I do believe they should be given the priority of everything.
27:55
It is worth a tackle, and I 100% back it.
27:59
How would they like it, all these politicians, if they were homeless?
28:02
Let's reverse the role round.
28:04
They become homeless, and yet, let's let, like, for example,
28:09
no offence, let the immigrants go and live in 10 Downing Street or 10 North,
28:12
whatever he's called at Andy Burnham.
28:15
Let's reverse the roles to them coming on the streets for a night.
28:18
And the whole topic of living on the streets, do you think we're embarrassed
28:22
as a nation about the topic or there's too much stigma and we're not very good
28:27
at talking about it? I think there's a lot of anger.
28:29
I think it's not about being embarrassed. I think there's a lot of anger of
28:33
watching hours and watching hours die on the streets from it.
28:38
And they've done nothing wrong, absolutely nothing wrong. And I also blame the
28:42
councils for not giving a direct approach on it.
28:46
Not tackling it. enough to help them okay thank you very much for you thank you take care bye,
28:53
Anything you want to add, Rod? I mean, Sammy, do you think for some people,
29:00
sleeping on the streets is their choice?
29:03
Oh, most certainly. Most certainly.
29:07
It's drugs and lifestyle. I mean, you can be sitting at home comfortably,
29:12
listening to the clock ticking.
29:15
Whereas if you're out on the streets, you're meeting people,
29:17
you're talking to people.
29:19
It's a way of life. It's like a job. and I know a lot of people well put it this way,
29:25
most of them have actually got a place to live there's not very many who are
29:30
really although there are some who are really homeless.
29:35
And really you can your nose tells you the proper ones from the imposters you
29:41
can actually smell a homeless person from 50 yards,
29:46
I know that sounds a bit cheeky or nasty but it's the truth you know,
29:50
you can smell a homeless person so anyone who doesn't smell like that will look like myself I'm just,
29:58
I'm not homeless but I've got no family I've got nobody, I've got nothing,
30:03
I've got no work I've got no wonder to the world,
30:06
and my universal credit doesn't get me what I get for a month would maybe keep
30:11
me going for a week so really I need this as a lifeline a wonder to the world,
30:16
and to get some food and some money you know can't live on universal credit,
30:22
but even if I had money I would still need something you need a reason,
30:27
you need purpose you know, really I need a job
30:30
and Sammy do people confuse you or thinking that you're homeless just because
30:35
you're on the street aye aye, that's the assumption oh that homeless person,
30:41
I know the person you mean but they're not actually homeless I mean there's
30:46
a couple who have been doing it for a long time,
30:49
The gentleman from the council actually got them a place at the same time as me.
30:53
And they just kept on begging and that, you know. It took my life.
31:00
And it's lucrative. If you're a female and you've got blonde hair,
31:03
you can make a lot of money.
31:05
Whereas a big lad like me, you know, they say, oh, look at that big,
31:08
lazy-ass guy there. They don't like you. That Glasgow smile is not worth the fiver, hey?
31:14
I look too well-fed, too well-nourished. but if I wasn't like this you know
31:19
if I wasn't doing this then I wouldn't look so well you know what I mean?
31:24
Sammy good to see you good to see you guys,
31:28
how do you think today's episode went? well as usual the people in Ultringham
31:32
are generally talkative there was a number of people who felt too uncomfortable
31:36
with the whole topic you know in some ways,
31:39
we got a variety of views we had some very personal experiences you know and.
31:45
It just goes to show that first of all it's more prevalent than we think the
31:49
whole issue of homelessness i think it's highly political as well as we heard as well and,
31:56
there's empathy but there's also a real confusion as to
32:01
what you do about it i i you know um but i think generally people thought well
32:05
christmas is not enough cancer you know you could solve it in lockdown you threw
32:10
money at it locked down in LA.
32:12
But it's a tough subject.
32:16
I'm not that convinced though that people see it being a major priority if I'm honest.
32:24
But yeah, I think the views here in the High Street and Aldrigan probably are
32:29
quite representative of the views in the country.
32:32
Yeah, and are you concerned about do you think it's a bit radical the view where
32:35
they've connected immigration with this? Where they think that the hotels that
32:39
have migrants they're trying to say that that should be for homelessness?
32:42
What's your view on them?
32:43
I can see why people draw conclusions on that because, you know,
32:47
the government has spent money housing people who are either illegal or illegal migrants.
32:55
I can see that. But then we don't know how much money is being spent on trying to fight homelessness.
33:02
I think Burnham's got something like 400 million.
33:05
That to me feels that it's a big sum of money, but at the same time it's probably not enough.
33:13
But it's complex because everybody's stories and reasons for being on the street
33:17
can be different and normally if you're going to fix something you've got to
33:21
go for the root cause and the root causes will be different as well.
33:25
I thought interestingly hearing from a guy who was going to be put into shared accommodation,
33:29
and saying well I was going to be surrounded with people who are high on drugs
33:33
and there's no way I would do that and therefore being on the streets was a
33:37
better option I absolutely have empathy with that.
33:40
And I can see why he would choose the streets over other options.
33:44
Oh, bless him. And he's looking over at us now. And yeah, my heart goes out to him.
33:50
And what about, are there any charities that are trying to help with this situation?
33:52
Where are they standing in all of this?
33:53
Well, we're going to be talking to one of the charities this week,
33:56
Life Share, on the Wednesday show. And I'm going to talk to them about what
33:59
are they doing and what other charities are doing. And there is a lot of effort
34:04
on this, I think. Maybe they can help. Oh, maybe they can.
34:08
Maybe they can't, but you know, it's complex. It's very complex.
34:12
I think it's deserving of national focus because I think, you know.
34:19
I think it's impossible to turn around and say, what number is right?
34:24
5,000, what number do you target? Should you go for zero? Do you go for zero policy?
34:32
I really don't know. It's a complicated topic, which is why when we did it three
34:35
years ago, you said you wanted to have a second episode on it.
34:37
And even today, I got the sense that you want to do another episode on it because,
34:40
it's a complicated topic and people aren't very informed about it. Yeah.
34:44
Yeah, and I don't feel like I'm knowledgeable enough about it,
34:49
but I, yeah, it's a frustrating topic.
34:52
It's complicated at the same time, but at least talking about it today,
34:57
at least maybe it's raised the awareness a little bit more. I think they need
35:02
a hero like you, Rod, to sort this out.
35:04
I'm no hero, John. I mean, sorry, James.
35:07
No way at all. I think we just need a determination. we need we need a joined
35:11
up plan and we need to target this i think if you put a few tweets out there
35:16
and tag down the burn a minute or type the labor party hopefully someone will see the tweet well i,
35:22
i should say i i think the key the key thing is that we we take moralistic and and,
35:28
you know we take a joined up approach this is not party political this is this
35:32
is about what we as a nation are comfortable with well i still go back to what
35:37
i said in i think it was december,
35:40
was it 20 December 23 or December 24 I said to Andy Burnham I think it should
35:44
be mandatory to have a task force on the street and the task force have to take people off the street.
35:50
I think there will always be somebody who chooses not to.
35:55
I think maybe to prevent crime and drugs, we should say, oh, no, we have to.
36:00
Yeah, but also we need to not make assumptions that just because somebody's
36:05
on the street means that they're more likely to turn to crime or drugs.
36:09
I'm not saying that. But I think from a moralistic point. Protect them from
36:14
that. Yeah, protect them.
36:15
Protect them. But, you know, we talked to a gentleman today. He's got skills.
36:19
He's got skills. Very good skills. He could be. More skills than us. Yeah.
36:24
Yeah. But, you know, he could be contributing positively to the economy and
36:30
therefore having a better life.
36:33
And he just needs a break. He needs somewhere to stay that's not sharing with
36:38
a bunch of people who are going to be focused on drugs and drink.
36:43
It's a complex thing. And, yeah. But we will come back to this every year because
36:48
every year we'll chip away on it.
36:50
And see if we can see any improvement. That could be our commitment to be from
36:54
the street and radio alti and homelessness is that every year is one of our 26 or 30 episodes.
37:00
Oh, well, definitely. You know, just just shine a light and keep on talking
37:07
and pushing. Yeah, and raise awareness.
37:09
Thank you, Rod, and we'll catch up later in the studio. Okay.
37:12
This is The Late Late Lunch Show with Rod Maxwell, supported by...
37:17
Where little explorers grow naturally. James, it's a huge topic.
37:21
We always run out of time on this, and it's a really complex topic.
37:28
I thought today that there were two moments that really made me think about
37:35
why it's so complicated.
37:37
And one of those moments was when we walked up to a man to get his opinion,
37:44
and then I spotted the bags And then I realized that actually he might be one
37:50
of those people who is the subject of being on the streets.
37:54
And it turned out to be the case. And yet he was very well dressed,
37:59
very well presented and has a profession, but found himself on the street.
38:06
And if we turn to Sammy, a lot of people would think that maybe Sammy's homeless, but he isn't.
38:14
You know he's he was a home he's got a roof over his head but he he likes to
38:19
be out amongst people during the day and it's a source of income for him actually,
38:25
that showed to me how complex this is and you can't just always assume that
38:33
what the label looks like is what the label means if that makes sense,
38:37
Exactly. Yes. And also, by the way, when you said I'm the editor,
38:40
I can't do this without you're the amazing co-host.
38:43
I think that's a very important point. I think that we can't assume that everybody
38:47
is on the street because they may have an accommodation, but they still don't
38:50
have any money. So they have to come onto the street in order to ask for money.
38:54
And also, not only that, they need the companionship or at least to come out,
39:00
and socialize like Sammy.
39:02
And I think the other point is that that chap that we met was extremely kind
39:06
of well-groomed. He had nice clothes and no wash, but he had nowhere to go.
39:12
And he had no home because of his circumstances, which means that this is,
39:17
what I would say, a failure of society and a failure of the government and social
39:21
services and organizations or charities to look out for people.
39:25
So then people are lost into the cracks of society because they haven't got the right support.
39:29
And if there is support, they don't know how to access it. And,
39:31
you know, that gentleman we spoke to has got skills, you know, he's a lorry mechanic.
39:41
And, you know, really, he seemed to be somebody who would love to be able to
39:47
be back and doing those, using those skills.
39:53
And as he said on the Fox Pops he was put into shared accommodation but.
39:59
With people who were alcoholics who were drug addicts and he just couldn't cope
40:05
and I understand that so for him living on the streets as hard as it is,
40:12
is better for him than actually going into a building of multiple occupancy
40:20
which is something like an HBO or something like that.
40:24
It's just, James, it just makes you really frustrated.
40:29
Yeah, it's mind-boggling. And also, I think that this is Britain bureaucracy because.
40:37
Who's controlling this? Who's doing anything about it? If the council know,
40:40
or social services know, or the police know, that some people are spending money
40:44
on drugs, or some of these places have turned into a crack haven,
40:47
but why is no one doing anything about it?
40:50
Where's the support? Because this poor man was having to live with these people
40:53
when he didn't want to, obviously, you know, get involved in that stuff.
40:58
And he's saying that food's getting nicked from the fridge, so he can't even
41:00
buy food for himself. So it's just outrageous.
41:03
We're not a third world country. This is one of the five biggest economies in
41:07
the world. And yet the bureaucracy means people just think, oh,
41:10
we don't care. We don't give the stuff. It's someone else's problem. And it's not.
41:13
They need to sort this out. Yeah, it is. And I sometimes think that we can't
41:19
call ourselves a developed society while we are prepared to live with us.
41:28
At the same time, I know for some people it is a life choice because they don't
41:34
feel equipped to live in normal civilization, perhaps.
41:41
And I do have this feeling of whether you've got to allow people to express
41:47
their free will. And if somebody doesn't want to be living under bricks and
41:52
mortar, well, that's okay, you know, maybe.
41:55
Be but for those who desperately want to i don't want to say normality but to,
42:03
live a normal life to have a roof over their head to feel security of that and
42:08
to be able to build their lives again because they've got an address which means
42:12
that they can apply for things etc etc.
42:16
Then you know we've got to make it easier for people to achieve that yeah exactly
42:23
i i personally speaking from someone who has autism, I think that the structures
42:28
or the processes, they're not right.
42:31
Life is wrong, or at least this country is wrong. People who have any kind of
42:35
social communication difficulties, which this chap said he did because he didn't
42:39
have an email address and he wasn't good at IT, who's there to help them?
42:42
Someone should try to help these people.
42:45
So they should say, look, I don't know how to use IT. I'm really struggling.
42:48
I don't have an email address either. Can someone help me?
42:51
And they should be able to offer support and should say, yep,
42:53
we have people who aren't the ground.
42:56
We have people who are experts in this. They can help you. And I'm sure if I
42:59
spoke to my mum about this, she'll say the same and say there just isn't any support for people.
43:03
But James, this man can help others because he's got skills.
43:08
He used to be a mechanic. You know? Exactly. But people don't,
43:12
you know, they don't have the right structures and processes to think aha,
43:15
this chap is struggling with IT and stuff.
43:17
Let's find him somewhere to live that hasn't got any drugs and let's saw other
43:22
people in places that do have drugs, and let's find a place that will support his skills.
43:33
Childbed learning in nature's playground so that's been another view from the streets,
43:37
uh we've been looking at people who live on the streets and we've been looking
43:41
at the topic of homelessness as always
43:44
if you've got any views on this get in contact with us through the lately lunch
43:48
show through our socials uh the lately lunch show at gmail.com or go to radioalti
43:53
at gmail.com we'd love to hear from you
43:56
and if you've got a topic you would like us to cover then get in contact as
44:01
well and we'd be happy to do so.
44:03
James, good to see you. See you next week. Thank you, Ron.
44:06
You're listening to The Late Late Lunch Show with Back to the Garden Childcare
44:11
where little explorers grow naturally.