The Education Secretary says people should not be arrested “on mere smell”.
Gillian Keegan Asked about the matter, Tory MPs are seeking to scrap provisions in the government’s Criminal Justice Bill that detain someone on the basis of odor, which is slowly making its way through Parliament.
Under the bill, it is proposed that police or local authorities will be able to issue “nuisance begging instructions” to move people, and if they fail to comply, they could face a month in jail.
Latest politics: PM faces backlash over plan to ‘criminalize’ homelessness
The legislation lists “excessive odor” as a form of “impairment” for which an order can be issued against someone.
The Government has yet to say whether it supports amending the bill, but Ms Keegan told Sky News she disagreed with the principles it sets out.
Asked whether people should be arrested if they smell something, Ms Keegan said: “Well, no, people should not be arrested just because they smell something.”
Asked why the provision was included in the bill, the Education Minister said she had not “looked at the details of it”.
She added: “I think that’s a bit of a word, I don’t know what they mean, but it’s really about making sure we support people – but we also make sure people feel safe on our streets… It’s an environment pleasant.”
The government has promised to introduce the Criminal Justice Bill before the next election, although the bill is currently making its way through the House of Commons and amendments proposed by MPs may be voted on later.
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People face jail time for creating ‘bad smell’. Image: PA
Conservatives from across the political spectrum – backed by Labour, Lib Dems, Greens and Glyde Cymru MPs – are trying to soften the bill’s stance on homelessness.
They want to remove the annoying begging instruction from the bill.
It is said that the number of Conservative supporters is about 40, which if coupled with the full support of the opposition parties, is enough to overthrow the government’s majority.
However, only a few have publicly signed the amendment – Bob Blackman, Nicky Aiken, Tracey Crouch, Celine Saxby, Stephen Hammond, Iain Duncan Smith Jazz, Joe Gideon, Caroline Knox, Derek Thomas, John Penrose and Damian Green.
Suella Braverman was still home secretary when the bill was introduced in parliament last year.
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She claimed at the time that rough sleeping was a “lifestyle choice.”
Ms Keegan disagreed, saying “often people go through a lot of difficulty before they get to that point”.
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