As Britain’s home secretary ramps up her shameful rhetoric towards homeless people, reminders that Andy Burnham has been donating 15 per cent of his salary to a charity helping those living on the streets in Greater Manchester have been making the rounds on social media.
In a scarcely-believable turn of events, Suella Braverman took to Twitter (X) at the weekend to suggest that those living in tents are doing it as a ‘lifestyle choice’.
The Financial Times reported that Suella Braverman’s plans could see the introduction of a new civil order offence, which would deter charities from giving tents to the homeless if their usage could be deemed ‘a nuisance’.
Braverman, meanwhile, stuck to her guns, saying:
“The British people are compassionate. We will always support those who are genuinely homeless. But we cannot allow our streets to be taken over by rows of tents occupied by people, many of them from abroad, living on the streets as a lifestyle choice.”
“What I want to stop, and what the law abiding majority wants us to stop, is those who cause nuisance and distress to other people by pitching tents in public spaces, aggressively begging, stealing, taking drugs, littering, and blighting our communities.” | Suella Braverman
In the wake of the comments, reminders that Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has been donating 15 per cent of his salary to a charity since 2017 have popped up.
The Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity, set up by Burnham, receives a cut of his £110,000 salary every month, helping people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
It has helped him get out of a few scrapes with people on social media who use the common trope that politicians are all words and no action.
In 2018 comedian Lee Hurst aimed a number of tweets at Mr Burnham over his salary and “totally unnecessary” job.
“Andy Burnham could always take a pay cut or abolish his own post altogether to make the money they do have go further. That ain’t gonna happen though,” Mr Hurst wrote.
In reply, the Labour mayor reminded the comedian: “Actually, Lee, it is happening. I donate 15% of my salary every month to the fund I have set up to tackle homelessness”, giving him the nickname ‘Andy Burn-ham’.
Related: Homelessness in Manchester plummets under Andy Burnham