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Homelessness in Britain

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Anthony Barnett (London, OK):There is a terrific article about homelessness in Britain in 2008 by Adam Sampson who is the Chief Executive of Shelter. It is in our sister blog openRussia. It sets out to tell Russian readers why wealthy Britain has so many homeless people - and how an NGO tries to tackles the problem. Here is the opening para, may be it is for Russians but the more Brits who read it the better!

"Britain is the fourth richest country in the world, economically prosperous and possessing a progressive, developed social welfare system. Yet despite this reputation, walk through any city in Britain on any given night and you are likely to be met with the most visible victims of homelessness; young men and women curled up on cardboard boxes, shivering with cold - proof of the gaping gaps in the state safety."

Anthony Barnett

Anthony Barnett

Anthony is the honorary president of openDemocracy. He was its founding editor-in-chief (2001-7), the co-director of The Convention on Modern Liberty (2009) and the first director of Charter 88 (1988-95). His most recent books are ‘The Lure of Greatness: England's Brexit and America's Trump’ (2017) and ‘Taking Control!: Humanity and America after Trump and the Pandemic’ (2022). He is a trustee of openTrust. His collected articles can be found on Authory and he posts on X at @AnthonyBarnett

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