Boris Johnson walks past protesters outside City Hall Pic:

Campaigners gathered outside Potters Fields Park on Wednesday 26, to protest a City Hall crackdown on begging and rough sleeping across six London boroughs, including Southwark and Lambeth.

The campaign, Homes Not Jails, was launched after the introduction in the New Year of Operation Encompass by Metropolitan Police Services and the UK Border Force.

Opponents see the operation, which aims to discourage begging and rough sleeping in six boroughs including Camden, Islington, Lambeth, Southwark and Westminster, and Croydon, as a plan to criminalise the vulnerable.

Commander Alison Newcomb, one of the people behind the crackdown which has already seen several arrests, said: “The MPS’s priority is to ensure London’s streets are safe for all.”

In recent years, laws have also been implemented criminalising squatters. As of September 2012, squatting in residential buildings could result in both a prison sentence and carry a fine of £5000.

Since the law was introduced, a number of people have faced prosecution, although, activists in Southwark continue to dispute this law. In October 2013, the occupation of a 21 and 23 Park Street challenged section 114 of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO).

Activists challenged Southwark Council’s LASPO law, occupying the residences under the pretence of a protest, as apposed to living in the buildings. This came whilst the building was due to stand auctioning at a starting price of 2.3 million.

Campaigners say the crackdown will criminalise the vulnerable Pic:

Occupation of the building took place in an effort to stop the sale of more public housing stock in an age when the borough faces severe housing shortages.

In the UK, 1.7 million households are currently on local authority housing waiting lists, forcing an increasing number of people to sleep rough on London Streets.