In Thornbury too: the new face of The Big issue

Whatever happened to the recovering alcoholic with a dog on a lead made of string? I thought that The Big Issue was established to help the single homeless, who were not covered by the Homeless Persons Act. So why does the management of The Big Issue seem so unconcerned about the takeover of the sale of the magazine by new sellers? This should be a big issue itself, because it raises many matters - legal and moral. Do the sellers have a right to work in this way? What is their status in the UK? What happens to the income so generated? What checks are there to ensure that sellers meet the magazine's classification of homeless? How is it that bulk buying for resell on the streets is allowed without question? What guarantees are there that sellers are not being exploited by gangmasters? What became of the traditional seller? What does it say about diversity and equality of opportunity if one small ethnic group dominates the sale of the Big Issue?

Those news stories:
● Belfast [Belfast Telegraph]
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/big-issue-sellers-plead...
● Forfar [Kirriemuir Herald]
http://www.kirriemuirherald.co.uk/news/ACTION-ON-BIG-ISSUE-39BEGGARS39.348444...
● Kilmarnock [Daily Express]
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/24987/-ROMANIANS-THREATENED-TO-KILL-ME-SA...
● Edinburgh [The Journal]
http://www.journal-online.co.uk/article/2788-driven-underground-a-migrants-tale
● Glasgow [The Herald]
http://www.heraldscotland.com/romanian-families-muscle-in-on-the-magazine-mar...
● Durham [The Northern Echo]
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/crime/4338236./
● Barrow-in-Furness [North-West Evening Mail]
http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/1.232436
● re York [The Press]
http://archive.thisisyork.co.uk/2004/4/2/249658.html
● Accrington [Accrington Observer]
http://www.accringtonobserver.co.uk/news/s/1104968_i_sell_big_issue_to_suppor...
● Bolton [The Bolton News]
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/1258048.0/?act=complaint&cid=140623
● Horsham [West Sussex Gazette]
http://www.westsussextoday.co.uk/horsham-news/Big-Issue-seller-left-out.47438...
● Epsom [Epsom Guardian]
http://www.epsomguardian.co.uk/archive/2008/10/25/news_epsom/3790041.Big_Issu...

Other news stories (not in the video)
http://www.heraldscotland.com/big-issue-ban-on-pushy-foreign-vendors-1.858221
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2008/07/11/exclusive-snp-hous...

Online discussions
http://www.scotland.com/forums/scottish-politics/25787-potential-romanian-imm...
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090527141700AAd5zfd
http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=198963
http://www.limmy.com/blog/2007/05/18/the-eastern-european-invasion-of-big-iss...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/22/roma-europe-discriminatio...
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=776303
http://www.dogsonacid.com/showthread.php?postid=7982224
http://pub11.bravenet.com/forum/static/show.php?usernum=885875549&frmid=1...
http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/scotnews07/hie07/070730_bogus.html
http://www.express.co.uk/comments/view/185380
http://opinion.independentminds.livejournal.com/897753.html?thread=9406681
http://www.s166416115.websitehome.co.uk/JaneyGodley/centreScotsColumn070730.html
http://www.dontstayin.com/chat/k-1861270
http://www.se23.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=135

Other online references
http://www.knowhere.co.uk/Shrewsbury/Shropshire/Midlands/info/localcharacters
http://www.knowhere.co.uk/Portadown/Armagh/Northern-Ireland-and-Republic-of-I...
http://www.b3ta.com/questions/hypocrisy/post376052
http://www.talkceltic.net/forum/talkceltic-pub/47611-beggars-2.html
http://www.barrycooke.co.uk/beggar-%E2%80%93-off-take-the-burger-or-sling-yer...
http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/letters?articleid=3022509&CommentPage=1...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/oct/30/migrantworkersneedoursuppo
http://www.impalapublications.com/blog/index.php?serendipity[action]=search&serendipity[searchTerm]=serb
http://huttonian.blogspot.com/2008/05/palmers-green-n13-has-many-stirling.html
http://www.christianmums.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=10522&st=0&p=4...

Bristol Big Issue Distribution Office - documentary
[notice the complete absence of Romanians in an official video]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJnyhim0Da4

[The orginal video had received 51 views at the time I deleted it for copyrighted music claim]

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Big Issue
• Thornbury
• Bristol
• South Gloucestershire
• High Street
• Romanian
• new
• face
• magazine
• seller
• vendor
• East European
• homeless

[hostroute]

My understanding is that begging and selling the big issue is used to generate small amounts of unattributable cash which is used to pump prime the business activities of the younger members of these families. You will find the older men and the women doing begging or big issue selling. Do a google search for "romanian cash machine fraud uk".

[mwingereza]

@hostroute I was a regular buyer of the Big Issue from 1991, when it first started as a fortnightly magazine in London, but I rarely buy it now. I'm not convinced that the Big Issue management has any proper control over the way the magazine is being sold to the public, and I have no trust in its ID scheme. The badges I believe in are (1) a dog on a piece of string, (2) a roll-up, or (3) a can of Special Brew. I read about ATM fraud - thanks. I also had a (cynical) laugh about Lavinia Olmazu.

[gaelicscots]

Boycott the Big Issue.