'It was a stupid thing to promise given his track record and failures,' Andy Preston said
Andy Burnham's flagship pledge to end rough sleeping has been dismissed by a homelessness charity founder.
Speaking to GB News, Sleep Out founder and former Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston claimed the new Prime Minister “failed miserably” to deliver on the same promise as Mayor of Greater Manchester.
During his first speech as Prime Minister, Mr Burnham pledged to end rough sleeping across the UK as a marquee objective of his premiership.
However, Mr Preston said he had “no faith” he could stick to that promise, adding "It was a stupid thing to say given his track record and failures".
The Sleep Out founder pointed to Mr Burnham's 2017 pledge to eradicate rough sleeping in Greater Manchester, arguing that despite significant funding, the target was never achieved.
“He promised in 2017 a really bold, ambitious claim that he would end rough sleeping in Greater Manchester”
“He had hundreds of millions at his fingertips. And he failed. He failed miserably.”
Mr Preston claimed that the former Mayor had repeatedly blamed external factors for missing the target, but said the figures should now come under renewed scrutiny.
“When he was challenged, he kept blaming austerity. He blamed this, and he blamed that, but he did very badly,” he said.
The charity chief suggested Mr Burnham had revived the pledge because it was politically popular, but warned it could quickly backfire.
“We all want to see an end to rough sleeping,” Mr Preston said.
“But it's actually really stupid because all of the journalists should be on his back now... digging into these numbers and showing him where he failed despite huge spending.”
Mr Preston acknowledged that immigration was a key factor in the growth in rough sleeping across the UK, but was keen to stress it was not the main driver.
“The numbers show very clearly that 30 to 40 per cent of all the people who sleep rough in England are people who were born abroad. And people, perhaps they might be failed asylum seekers or here for other reasons.
“I am cautious about talking too much about immigration because sometimes people latch onto it and they think that's the only problem. The truth is, we don't have enough homes.”
Reflecting on what the new Prime Minister was hoping to achieve with the policy announcement, Mr Preston suggested there was a cynical motive.
“Andy Burnham is trying to curry favour by saying something that's universally popular and hoping that people forget the pledge over time, and he's moved on, and he's doing other things.
“But we mustn't let him get away with it. What I want to do is believe that he's someone with a mission, a purpose, and a plan, and the plan is the important bit.
“That's what Keir Starmer didn't have. It looks to me, I'm afraid to say, that Andy Burnham has no plan for homelessness and rough sleeping and no plan for anything,” the charity chief said.
