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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Daniel Lavelle

Here’s why so many people sleep rough on Britain’s streets – Sunak’s Tories have chosen to leave them there

Britain ​​Rishi Sunak Office for National Statistics Prison
Tents used by rough sleepers in Westminster, London, June 2022
Tents used by rough sleepers in Westminster, London, June 2022. Photograph: Maureen McLean/Rex/Shutterstock

The Conservative party’s 2019 manifesto promised to “end the blight of rough sleeping” by 2024; four years later the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reported the biggest year-on-year percentage increase since 2015.

According to the ONS, 3,069 people were estimated to be sleeping rough on any given night last year – an increase of 26% on the previous year, and a 74% increase since 2010, when the Conservative-led coalition took office. The devastating figure is down from the 4,751 rough sleepers counted during the peak of the homeless crisis in 2017, but we’re well and truly going backwards.

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