SWINDON Trades Union Council will be lobbying Swindon Borough Council next week urging it to help the homeless.

On Thursday, January 26, a petition signed by thousands will be presented to the council by representatives of the TUC.

"We have spoken to many homeless people in Swindon and a surprising number were trade union members while at work and would love to be in a position to join a union again," said Jon Timbrell, Swindon TUC Secretary.

SBC is being asked to consider novel initiatives to help and support rather than demonise the homeless.

" One way would be to purchase, by compulsory order if necessary, the unused Wiltshire Hotel on Fleming Way and convert it into a centre for those who need emergency housing, whether they fulfil the so called legal criteria for this or not.

"We understand other councils have successfully done something like this and it has helped people break out of the cycle of poverty and re-build their lives."

At the end of 2016, the Swindon Trades Union Council organised a demonstration in Wharf Green in support of the homeless urging SBC to withdraw the Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) which covers the town centre.

"The PSPO criminalises begging, charity collections, and street trading, and can lead to penniless homeless people being fined up to £100 for trying to get enough money to buy basics such as food. "As the homeless are usually also penniless, fines can go unpaid and they in turn end up being arrested and imprisoned as a result," said Mr Timbrell.

And he added: "The Government believes that there are at least 250,000 homeless people in the UK. This is appalling considering that the UK has one of the biggest economies in the world and has plenty of wealth to sort out the problem of homelessness once and for all.

"The root cause of homelessness is the inability of people to be able to rent or buy anywhere, as well as stagnating wages and attacks on benefits and services. Thousands of people have lost jobs, found themselves in a ruthless cycle of poverty, partly caused by the vicious benefits system imposed by Government and so well exposed by Ken Loach in his film I, Daniel Blake".

"The levels of homelessness have soared during the period of austerity which now stretches back some years. However while the working class have borne the brunt of austerity of low or no pay increases, the rich have just got richer and richer.

"Successive governments have done little to tackle homelessness, and despite the building boom in some parts of the country, the new housing is simply not affordable for many."

Nikki Dancey, Swindon TUC member added: "Poverty is not a crime. The criminalisation of homeless people is immoral, and the true criminals - those rich people who evade tax, fail to pay proper wages and contribute nothing to society, get away with their crimes, or even get rewarded with knighthoods."