'Musical Beggars' and one disreputable MP

by Brian Bamford

TODAY, Northern Voices' did a survey of Rochdale town centre looking for the beggars reported to have been infesting the area between the Rochdale Exchange part way up Yorkshire Street, and the Wheatsheaf Centre entrance.
During my unscientific investigation I didn't discover one beggar, and began to worry if the tribe of beggars had been intimidated by the local MP for Rochdale, Simon Danczuk, who was whingeing in parliament last week, and in the media about the level of begging in Rochdale town centre.  He even castigated the Greater Manchester Police for not being more proactive in moving Rochdale's paupers on.
I spoke to one shopkeeper on The Walk, and she claimed the beggars come in shifts:  'it's like musical beggars, not musical chairs, round here,' she said. 
I said that I'd toured the area on Monday afternoon, and hadn't seen the lad who usually sits begging at the end of Yorkshire Street.  The shopkeeper insisted that the beggars didn't come until later, and that they kept away when the cops were around.  'The police do move them on!', she said.
But everyone was critical of the paupers and beggars, I approached a 'Busker' half way up Yorkshire Street, and I asked him where had all the beggars gone:  He told me they were still around and hadn't been frightened off my the belly-aching Mr. Danczuk.
I wondered if the good MP for Rochdale, who himself is down on his luck having been suspended from the Labour Party for disreputable behaviour, could possibly have mistaken Busking for begging when he took to counting the beggars on the short walk up Yorkshire Street to his office, where once he himself is reputed to have spent time bonking a lass on the office desk before breakfast?
The Busker said 'he can class me how he likes but I've got a license from the Council for what I do!'
He then told me how he 'felt guilty' when sometimes the local beggars throw money into his collecting tin, and he expressed surprise at how Mr. Danczuk had got away for so long in this town with his own disreputable conduct.
As I wandered off, the Busker began singing:  'I'll Do It My Way'
Meanwhile yesterday, when it comes to spare change Danczuk's former wife, Ms. Karen Danczuk, tweeted cheerfully about 'That moment when you find money in a coat you've not worn for a few weeks'.*

*  Karen DanczukVerified account ‏@KarenDanczuk 20h

That moment when you find money in a coat you've not worn for a few weeks KD #result

Petition against Liverpool City Council's over-regulation of Street performance

Sign the petition here or at http:// www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/keep-spontaneous-street-performance-alive  :

The policy stipulates where, when and whether performances can happen. It states how long they can happen for, and that even approved performances can be stopped for any reason at the whim of a council official or police officer.  It removes all spontaneity from street life, and may empty the major streets of all but a few, officially sanctioned performers. It will make it much harder to earn a living from street art and performance in Liverpool and will discourage good acts from performing in the city. If this policy had been in place in 2006 then people like George Samson, the street dancer who was 14 when he won Britain's Got Talent, would not have been allowed to perform in the city.  Instead, he would have been served a trespass notice and threatened with arrest.

Street entertainment is an activity that happens organically and costs nothing.  It is free, and provides a cultural and communal dimension to city centre life at a time when many of our high streets are under threat from internet shopping and the economic downturn.  After all, you cannot buy street performing online! You need to go to town to experience it.  Most of the problems caused for councils by street performers relate to a very small minority of people and can be dealt with adequately using existing polices without the need for another layer of bureaucracy.

So if you value impromptu performances in public spaces, if your spirits have been lifted by a good busking experience, and if you think spontaneity in city life is important, please sign this petition!

Sign the petition here or at http:// www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/keep-spontaneous-street-performance-alive