In Depth

Windsor councillor calls for crackdown on homeless before royal wedding

Outrage as Simon Dudley urges police action to tackle ‘epidemic’ that paints town in ‘unfavourable light’

by The Week team

4 Jan 2018

Government policy blamed for sharp rise in homelessness

The number of people sleeping rough in England has hit a record high

Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

The leader of Windsor council has faced a powerful online backlash after calling for a clampdown on the royal borough’s homeless population before the royal wedding.

Government criticised over rise in homelessness

Conservative councillor Simon Dudley was branded ‘abhorrent’ and out of touch for the remarks, which he tweeted from a Christmas skiing holiday in the US.

Sadly there is an epidemic of rough sleeping and vagrancy in #Windsor @RBWM. I will be writing to @StansfeldPCC copying @TVP_Chief @Bhupinderrai70 at @ThamesVP @TVP_Windsor asking for them to focus on dealing with this before the #RoyalWedding
— Simon Dudley (@MrSimonDudley) December 27, 2017

So Windsor council's concern for the homeless is not that they're homeless and need shelter but that they make the streets look untidy and they want it to look pretty for the Royal Wedding. Says it all about #ToryBritain
— Lady Mrs VB🌹🇪🇺😷 💙 (@MrsVB) January 4, 2018

Really simple solution to windsor Council's problem with homeless people lowering the tone of the Royal wedding; House them in Windsor Castle's 1000 rooms
— Aunt Olive (@HelpfulOlive) January 4, 2018

In a letter sent to Police and Crime Commissioner Anthony Stansfeld on Tuesday, Dudley set out the supposedly ample resources currently available to Windsor’s rough sleepers, whom he said “present a beautiful town in a sadly unfavourable light”.

With all eyes on Windsor in May for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Dudley argued that stricter enforcement of anti-vagrancy and anti-begging legislation was necessary in light of “the special context and security profile of the town”.

The comments were picked up by several news outlets and quickly generated a backlash as social media users criticised Dudley’s attitude as an attempt to sweep the pressing issue of homelessness under the carpet to create a fairytale backdrop for the royal wedding:

‘An epidemic’? Is rough sleeping and vagrancy (homelessness) an infectious disease now? Is there a vaccine? Before the Royal Wedding sort of gives the game away. This about optics not any sort of concern for the homeless.
— The Newport Hilton 💙🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇪🇺 (@oldmanbigkid) January 3, 2018

Leading barrister and founder of the Good Law Project Jo Maugham QC drew on the Bible to highlight the uncharitable attitude of the comments:

Jesus said: "when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed."And the Conservative Leader of Windsor Council said: when you give a banquet charge the poor under the vagrancy act.https://t.co/z8Zz0cXKmo
— Jo Maugham (@JolyonMaugham) January 3, 2018

While others called for protests on the day of the wedding:

Why don't #roughsleepers, homeless, drug addicts and disenfranchised of the UK descend on #Windsor for the #RoyalWedding2018 to show the rest of the world what this country is really like and what the #tories have done for us over the last decade? #Occupywindsor2018
— DJ Ravers UK (@davewillywills) January 3, 2018

“Stigmatising or punishing [rough sleepers] is totally counterproductive,” Greg Beales of housing charity Shelter told The Guardian. “They desperately need our help, support and advice to move off the streets into safety and, eventually, into a home.”

However, some Windsor residents defended Dudley’s comments, saying they were a realistic reflection of a growing problem in the royal borough: