Anti-begging announcements on the Underground only serve to dehumanise the homeless and give wealthy commuters an excuse to ignore the issue of poverty, a campaigner has claimed.

If you’ve never heard them, they typically play at night warning people that ‘beggars and buskers are operating on this train’.

The announcement then tells passengers not to ‘encourage their presence by supporting them’.

The announcements warn people that ‘beggars and buskers are operating on this train’ (Picture: Getty)

Georgia Elander, 23, believes the language used by Transport for London aligns homeless people with criminality.


She says they are forced to beg as a last resort, not because it’s an attractive or lucrative activity.

‘I think the language of the announcements is really stigmatising,’ she told metro.co.uk. ‘For example, using the word “operate” is the same kind of language you’d use to talk about thieves or scammers.



‘It really encourages the attitude that if we stop giving money to people begging, they’ll go away – when obviously the only real way to tackle the problem is to end poverty and deprivation.’

Research from the homeless charity Shelter in November found over half of the country’s homeless population are living in London.

TfL has been accused of ‘dehumanising’ homeless people with the announcements (Picture: Getty)

Nearly 170,000 people are roughing it in the capital alone, as record numbers sleep on the streets or in the cramped confines of a hostel room, the charity’s study found.

Georgia says these people have been ‘badly let down by the system’ and instead of treating them like a ‘nuisance to be ignored’, we should show them our ‘support and compassion’.

She added: ‘I honestly can’t imagine how it feels to not only be in the horrific position of having nowhere to call home, but also to feel that so many people around you see you as a nuisance or a threat.’

She is calling on TfL and the mayor Sadiq Khan to stop ‘overseeing such a heartless policy on London’s Tube network’.

TfL has now confirmed to metro.co.uk that they are already in the process of changing their announcements to encourage people to give to charity.

Siwan Hayward, TfL’s Director of Compliance and Policing, said: ‘We are changing our announcements to encourage people to donate to charity, rather than giving directly to those that are sleeping rough on the transport network.

‘By donating to the London Charities Homeless Group, people can directly help fund homeless services and help vulnerable people off the street and get them the support they need.

‘No one should be faced with sleeping rough on our streets or on public transport, which is why we have a dedicated outreach team for our transport network to help homeless people who use Night Buses and Tubes as a place to sleep.

‘The team are part of the Mayor’s efforts to help connect rough sleepers with services in the capital and they have helped many vulnerable people find accommodation, access to support services and reconnected them with family and friends. In addition to this, we are working with local boroughs, station staff and outreach to direct help to those who need it most.’

Nearly 15,000 are backing a campaign to remove the announcements from the Underground (Picture: AFP/Getty)

But he said TfL have ‘missed an opportunity’ to remind commuters that there are many ways they can help homeless people.



He said: ‘Donating money or food is always a matter of personal choice, but what is not in dispute is that every year in London thousands of young people approach their local council for help because they have nowhere else to go.

‘If buskers and beggars are disrupting customer journeys then TfL has every right to tackle the issue, but it seems a missed opportunity not to suggest ways in which the public can help.

‘StreetLink and Centrepoint run national helplines for homeless people, and the Mayor’s office has a Homelessness Fund that supports projects across London.

‘We encourage TfL to signpost commuters towards these positive ways to make a difference.’

Georgia has started a petition calling for the announcements to be ‘immediately removed’ and it has already been signed by 13,000 people in just two days.

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