A Tory councillor has come under fire for urging her local authority to pull down tents used by homeless people. She took to Twitter to share he thoughts on the homelessness issue in the city she represents.
Kathryn Kelloway, a councillor for the Cyncoed area of Cardiff, tweeted to the city council’s leader a picture of herself standing in front of tents pitched on a shopping street.
“Cllr Thomas, if you seek safety in our city centre, if you seek prosperity for local businesses, if you seek a better image for Cardiff, Cllr Thomas come to Queen Street,” she wrote. “Cllr Thomas, tear down these tents.”
Her Tweet was met with a furious backlash from people on the social media platform, many blaming her party for the homelessness problem in the first place.
Kelloway said she was glad she had managed to raise awareness of the issue and continued to explain her reasoning over a series of further Tweets “If these people had nowhere else to go my comments would be horrible and heartless! But they do have somewhere to go. There are more than enough hostel beds available in Cardiff. I want them in rooms, not in tents.”
She said she had previously worked for homelessness charities. “I know there are enough spaces in hostels for these people and it is a failure of policy that they are allowed to live in tents instead of using services.”
As Tories quibble amongst each other, this is what’s happening on the streets of Britain
