
Homeless charity welcomes scrapping of Vagrancy Act
Homeless charity Crisis, along with other homelessness organisations and politicians in England and Wales, has been calling for the act to be consigned to history books. It has remained in place despite a Westminster vote to repeal it in 2022.
Crisis has also welcomed a new draft law in the Senedd, which seeks to improve homelessness prevention and support in Wales.
Debbie Thomas, head of policy in Wales at Crisis, said: 'No-one should be punished for being pushed into homelessness. It's critical that people who are experiencing the trauma of homelessness feel able to reach out for support from authorities – not fear them."
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Starmer to recall cabinet from summer recess as he faces pressure to back Palestinian state as humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens
Sir Keir Starmer will recall his Cabinet from summer recess this week to hold talks on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Prime Minister is under pressure to follow French president Emmanuel Macron in recognising a Palestinian state as horror continues to mount over the conflict. Sir Keir has so far resisted the calls, saying it should instead come as part of a wider peace process, with senior Labour figures saying he fears upsetting the US. The PM is expected to use his relationship with Donald Trump to push for Washington to restart ceasefire talks when they meet in Scotland today. But more than 200 MPs have urged him to immediately recognise a Palestinian state. Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan are said to be among those urging the PM to move on the issue. Labour pledged to do so in their manifesto and government officials say it is a question of 'when, not if'. Referring to his meeting with Sir Keir, President Trump said yesterday: 'We'll be discussing that [a ceasefire agreement]. I think we're going to be discussing a lot about Israel. 'They're very much involved in terms of wanting something to happen. [Starmer] is doing a very good job, by the way.' But Sir Keir faces another backbench rebellion after recess as the Scottish National Party has said it will table a 'Palestine Recognition Bill' if he does not change tack, which could see his own party vote with the SNP. It comes as Israel introduced daily pauses to fighting in parts of Gaza to open up humanitarian corridors following international horror at images of starvation. The IDF yesterday stopped some operations from 10am to 8pm to help get aid in. Leaders have committed to continue the ten-hour 'tactical pauses' every day until further notice following pressure from Israel's allies. Britain is among countries backing airdrops of aid, including flour, sugar and canned food, with Israel, Jordan and the UAE running the flights. It is the first time the Israeli Air Force has carried out aid drops during the conflict. Meanwhile, the IDF has also designated 'secure routes' from 6am to 11pm to enable the 'safe passage of UN and humanitarian aid organisation convoys delivering and distributing food and medicine across the Gaza Strip'. But doctors and aid workers on the ground warned a full ceasefire is needed to stop the 'mass starvation'. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry claims six more people have died from malnutrition – bringing the total to 133, including 87 children. It also alleged nine Palestinians were killed and 54 injured at an aid convoy route in central Gaza. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said tactical pauses 'alone cannot alleviate the needs of those desperately suffering in Gaza'.


BBC News
13 hours ago
- BBC News
Jordan and UAE aid drops underway in Gaza during Israel's 'tactical pause'
Jordan and the UAE have dropped aid into Gaza after Israel began a "tactical pause" in fighting to mitigate a worsening humanitarian military said its planes, working with the UAE, had delivered 25 tonnes of aid in three drops on Sunday. A lorry convoy also entered from Egypt and another is due from Jordan. Israel said on Sunday it would halt military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and allow aid corridors, to "refute the false claim of intentional starvation".However, medics reported nine killed and 54 injured by Israeli fire near an aid convoy route in central Gaza. An airstrike also hit a residential block an hour after a pause came into effect on Saturday. Gaza air drops 'a grotesque distraction', aid agencies warn Local sources told the BBC that nine people were shot in the Netzarim Corridor along Salah al-Din Street in central Gaza, where many civilians had gathered in anticipation of incoming UN aid convoys. Victims were taken to al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat, a medical official at the facility Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its troops "fired warning shots" at a "gathering of suspects" approaching them. It said it was not aware of any BBC Verify geolocated an airstrike to Midhat Al-Wahidy Street in Al-Rimal district of western Gaza City - which Israel had designated an hour before as an area where operations would verification was based on witness reports and two geolocated videos published earlier on Sunday. The IDF said it had checked the coordinates and were not aware of a aid trucks arriving in the strip on Sunday were swarmed as desperate Palestinians tried to grab bags of flour from an aid truck near a food distribution point in Zikim, northern has come under intense international pressure over recent weeks to allow aid into the territory it controls, amid reports of mass starvation. The UN's World Food Programme says a third of the two million population of Gaza does not eat for several days at a time, and a quarter were "enduring famine-like conditions".More than 100 people have been reported by the Hamas-run health ministry to have died from malnutrition in recent days. Hundreds have meanwhile been killed by gunfire as they attempted to get food from the limited number of distribution points run by the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The UK's foreign secretary, David Lammy, said Israel's concessions over the weekend alone would not alleviate the suffering in Gaza."Whilst air drops will help to alleviate the worst of the suffering, land routes serve as the only viable and sustainable means of providing aid into Gaza," he said in a statement."These measures must be fully implemented and further barriers on aid removed. The world is watching."Volker Türk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, meanwhile called for more international pressure to end the war. Every day, he said, brought "more destruction, more killings, and the further dehumanisation of Palestinians".Donald Trump, the US president, said he would be sending more aid to Gaza but urged this was "an international problem - it's not a US problem". Residents of Gaza have cautiously welcomed reports of a temporary humanitarian pause allowing food and medicine to enter the besieged enclave. "Of course I feel a bit of hope again, but also worried that starvation would continue once the pause is over," Rasha Al-Sheikh Khalil, a mother of four in Gaza City, told the Saleh, a mother of six, said her family hadn't eaten "a single fresh fruit or vegetable in four months". "There's no chicken, no meat, no eggs. All we have are canned foods that are often expired and flour."Imad Kudaya, a local journalist in Gaza and from al-Mawasi, in the south of the Strip, said most of the air drop packages "have fallen in demilitarised places where if you go there you will put yourself in a very big risk"."Those place are evacuated and under Israeli control - so it is risky."Even as air drops and convoys headed into Gaza, Israel's prime minister promised his country would "continue to fight, we will continue to act until we achieve all of our war goals - until complete victory".During his visit to Ramon Air Force Base in the Negev Desert, Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had always allowed aid into Gaza, and that the UN had unfairly blamed his government for the crisis."There are secure routes. There have always been, but today it's official. There will be no more excuses," he the new measures, Israel said it would suspend fighting in three populated areas of Gaza for 10 hours a day and open secure routes for aid IDF said it would open humanitarian corridors for aid convoys in Gaza to allow the UN and other organisations to deliver food and medicine to Palestinians across the strip. The routes would be in place from 06:00 to 23:00 local time (04:00 BST to 21:00 BST).The pause in military activity would take place in three areas - Al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah and Gaza City - from 10:00 to 20:00 local time (08:00 BST to 18:00 BST) each day until further notice, the IDF apparent concessions followed its acceptance of a Jordanian and UAE plan, backed by the UK, to air drop aid into Gaza. Israel launched a war in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken than 59,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.


Daily Mail
17 hours ago
- Daily Mail
New cost-of-living crisis deepens in California
Published: Updated: A new cost-of-living crisis is deepening across America's progressive capital. In California , soaring climate risk and mounting insurance losses are converging into a property crisis experts warn could slash the value of millions of homes. Deep Sky, a Canadian carbon removal firm, published an analysis of the state's housing insurance market, which painted a dire picture. 'The highest risk areas of California have effectively become uninsurable and will soon become unaffordable,' the study, published in mid-June, concluded. 'Without significant policy intervention, these properties will eventually become worthless.' The warning comes just six months after destructive blazes ripped through Southern California, destroying over 18,000 structures and burning more than 57,000 acres. In January, the Palisades and Eaton fires became two of the most destructive blazes in state history. The impact on the insurance market, which was already under pressure , was immediate. In the first quarter of 2025, insurers posted a $1.1 billion net underwriting loss — a sharp reversal from the $9.4 billion gain they posted the same period a year before. Those numbers have hit some of the most wildfire-prone areas, where premiums have jumped by 42 percent since 2019, and more than 150,000 homes are now uninsured altogether as residents simply cannot afford coverage. But the state has a long way to fall before reaching worthlessness. Right now, the Golden State is America's most expensive housing market. Median home values in California are currently just over $780,000, according to Zillow. That's over $400,000 more than the US average. But, without a robust fire insurance market, policymakers and researchers are warning that the state is resting on shaky grounds. In May, Ricardo Lara, the state's insurance commissioner, approved a 17 percent rate hike for State Farm General, California's largest home insurance provider, to help pay for earlier destruction. 'The market is not going to fail under my leadership,' he told Politico after the decision. 'I have to make these hard decisions, even though it makes me the most unpopular person, and maybe nobody wants this position in the future.' And California is by no means alone. Several other states that are prone to natural disasters have faced mounting home insurance issues. State Farm hiked home insurance rates in Illinois by 27.2 percent this month , adding $746 to the average bill. The insurer insists the hike is unavoidable, claiming it is paying out far more in claims than it collects in premiums in the state which is prone to hailstorms. Florida, which saw a major inflow of residents in 2020, is seeing housing shoppers flee its hurricane-vulnerable coastlines that used to draw million-dollar buyers. In April, contracts to buy homes in the Miami, West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale regions fell dramatically from the year prior. Homes also lingered longer on the market. Pending sales fell 23 percent year-over-year in Miami, according to Redfin, which was the largest drop among the 50 most populous metro areas across the US. Meanwhile, some cash-strapped young homebuyers are skipping insurance altogether out of fear their homes will not pass inspection.