The campaign against Oxford City Council's authoritarian and anti-homeless /anti-busker PSPO is ongoing. Comedian and political activist Mark Thomas will be raising awareness of attempts to criminalise some of the most vulnerable members of our society this coming Monday. Please join him if you can. JOIN US IN INSTALLING BEGGAR TRAPS AROUND OXFORD TOWN HALL ON MONDAY 12 OCTOBER AT 10AM Oxford City Council are giving themselves new powers to entrap the poor, to criminalise them, put them into debt and into prison. This Thursday the council vote on a measure to punish people begging near cashpoint machines by making them pay an on the spot £100 fine.  The council know most beggars won't be able to pay this. They know beggars will be forced to a Magistrates’ court and will have to pay at least another £150 in court charges.  They know most won't be able to pay the increasing burden of debt and fines. They know people will be imprisoned… for the crime of begging near a cashpoint machine. The council’s defence is as weak as it is absurd. They say: “…the intention is not to use the fixed penalty approach as the people concerned are unlikely in many cases to have the financial resources to meet a fine.” So why bother bringing in this measure? They say: “Instead, the PSPO will be used as a route to the Magistrates’ Court where magistrates have the power to require them to engage with the extensive and effective drugs, alcohol or homelessness services that are available in the city” But what this means in reality is beggars will be subject to Grayling’s mandatory court charge of at least £150 as well as facing further punishment as is happening now: Mark Smith, 38, of no fixed address, admitted persistently begging in a public place, Cornmarket Street, Oxford, in May. Also admitted breaching an antisocial behaviour order made on December 12 prohibiting him from sitting within 10 metres of a cash machine in Cornmarket Street. Sent to prison for 30 days and ordered to pay a £150 criminal courts charge. Matthew Dobbs, 26, of Speedwell Street, Oxford, admitted begging in Cornmarket Street, Oxford, on March 28. Also admitted failing to surrender to custody at Oxford Magistrates’ Court without good reason on April 22. Fined £50 and ordered to pay a £20 victims’ surcharge and a £150 criminal courts charge. Oxford City Council know that as soon as a beggar is sent to a Magistrates’ court they are setting them further on a path of indebtness and exclusion. This is not about helping people, it is about punishing people for the crime of being poor. Begging prosecutions have increased by nearly 400% in the Thames Valley area and the new powers will only allow more. This has nothing to do with offering people help. All the council care about is socially cleansing the centre of Oxford so it looks nice. Oxford City Council are the Hyacinth Bucket of the Labour movement - they are concerned only with appearances. Come and join us in taking action against Oxford City Council’s proposed PSPO (Public Space Protection Order) on MONDAY 12 OCTOBER. Meet at 10am at Carfax Tower where we will be installing street art to protest the measure" Kind regards, Jonny Walker Founding Director of Keep Streets Live Campaign http://keepstreetslive.com