A Tory council leader who claimed rough sleepers had made a “commercial life choice” to prey on residents and tourists in Windsor has sidestepped calls to apologise.
In a series of Twitter posts Windsor and Maidenhead council leader Simon Dudley said beggars could present the town in a “sadly unfavourable light” when Prince Harry marries American actress Meghan Markle in May.
His comments attracted criticism from homeless charities, and Prime Minister Theresa May said she disagreed with his assessment.
But Mr Dudley, who is currently in the US, declined to comment when asked if he regretted his comments.
Instead he said that the local authority had a homelessness action plan, adding: “We await a response from the PCC on the concerns we have raised.”
Asked about the remarks during a visit to a hospital in nearby Camberley, Mrs May said: “I don’t agree with the comments that the leader of the council has made.
“I think it is important that councils work hard to ensure that they are providing accommodation for those people who are homeless, and where there are issues of people who are aggressively begging on the streets then it’s important that councils work with the police to deal with that aggressive begging.”
