If I’m completely honest, I’m not entirely sure what I think about this. “The home secretary is proposing new laws to restrict the use of tents by homeless people, arguing that many of them see it as a ‘lifestyle choice’.” On the face of it, of course that is an abhorrent, sickening thing to think: nobody chooses to live on the streets, and the evil Tory bitch Braverman obviously just wants to stop people living in tents to make the UK look more prosperous than it is. Homelessness is a clear sign of government failure, which is why the Tories want to hide it.

At the same time, the fact remains that the country has quite a robust welfare system. It’s far from perfect, but it functions. Anyone in need of a home will get one, so in a way you could argue that people – at least some people – do indeed choose to be homeless. Of course I know it’s far more complicated than that, and varies from situation to situation. I’m in no way trying to excuse Braverman, let alone side with her; there are many ways in which destitution cannot be avoided. Yet you can indeed argue that, in choosing not to go through the system others do in order to get housed, sometimes homelessness becomes a choice. I know from my own experiences how much support is available from the state/social services, so it seems odd to me that some people still live on the streets, if not by choice.