Homelessness is peaking again and last year Ian was among 11,993 rough sleepers in London - the highest ever recorded in the capital. Can a strategy from Labour's past reverse the trend?
Ian Harrison watches a film in which, 16 years ago, he is on the streets begging for money in Covent Garden. Recorded in 2008, we see a fresh-faced 19-year-old Ian, who has been evicted from his flat, telling the camera he is going to take as many drugs as he can get. 'I want to get so far gone, all my problems go away, just for tonight,' he says. Watching this, 35-year-old Ian blinks slowly. He nods and lets out a big sigh.
Ian grew up in care and says he hasn't learned how to look after himself. He says: 'I struggle with a lot of basic things in life. I never had parents to say brush your teeth, get in the shower do this, do that, when you grow up into an adult you don't have that stuff.' 'Hard to be stable in a place like this' He is off the drugs and has a prescription for methadone, but says his environment doesn't help.
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