I ASK the following questions of the people who champion the needs of rough sleepers.

I trust their answers will be unemotional, honest and have no Christianity bias.

Why do some people choose to sleep rough?

I contend is it because they have a drug or alcohol addiction problem and they prefer to spend their government “hand outs” on their addiction rather than on accommodation.

Why are there so many only in and around the centre of Brighton?

Is it because the “pickings”... that is begging opportunities in the area are better than anywhere else?

More people, more tourists, then there are the feeding stations.

When did you last see a rough sleeper or beggar, not in the city centre, but in the surrounding towns? Woodingdean, Rottingdean, Saltdean, Seaford. I have yet to see one.

I read that two councillors says we should provide them with housing, Fine.

However I would wager if you gave a rough sleeper a four bedroom house, say in Fontwell, that within a month the house would be a wreck, the contents sold and the sleeper would be back on the streets of Brighton.

I’m not being harsh I am, I hope, a realist.

All these people care about is their addiction and the best way to satisfy it, no matter what.

So I argue that we don’t really have a rough sleeper problem but an addiction problem and this is where the councillors and the police should put all their efforts into solving. These people need help, but the right help

John Armstrong

Address supplied