Letter: The princess and the plea for the homeless
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.From Ms Cheryl St Clair
Sir: It is sad that the Princess of Wales's comments about homelessness have been seized on as evidence that she is entering the party political arena ("Tory MPs angry at Diana's political plea for homeless", 8 December). Homelessness is a social problem, as the princess herself made clear when she referred to "the indifferent stares of passers-by". Away from the lights of the West End, there are many older people with serious health problems sleeping on the streets. Many of them were young people denied their chance in the Fifties, Sixties, Seventiesand Eighties. They, too, "deserve a chance".
Rather than worrying about the princess's politics, should we not be reminding ourselves of our social responsibility: that there are certain fundamental rights that in a civilised world should be available to all - a right to food and shelter, for instance?
As a society we should make it clear to any government that we expect these rights to be upheld, irrespective of public expenditure implications. Meanwhile, the charitable sector continues to do what it can.
The Budget announced the commitment of a further pounds 50m to the Rough Sleepers Initiative over the next three years. This should be enough to maintain the approach in central London - including, we hope, the innovative work we have been doing with older homeless people in the City and the East End - and extend it to other areas.
Yours faithfully,
Cheryl St Clair
Director
Providence Row
London, E1
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments