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Big Issue seller asked for more

(102 Posts)
PamelaJ1 Mon 12-Dec-22 13:50:14

I’ve just got back from town where I bought a copy of the Big Issue. £4.
The young man asked if I wanted change from the £10 note I gave him. ‘As it’s Christmas’.
I said yes please but then let him keep a pound. It made me feel uncomfortable and mean so I probably won’t buy another one for a long time.
What would you have done?

OnwardandUpward Mon 26-Dec-22 20:52:00

In some cases here in UK the beggars are not what they seem- there are gangs who have trafficked people and force them to beg. They pick them up at the end of the day and force them to hand over most of the money.

These are the beggars who hold signs saying "Im hungry, God bless you" but if you give them food they do not want it. They all have the same sign, written by the gang leader in the neatest handwriting. They are not from UK.

I don't know why the police are not catching the gang leaders and helping these guys home. It's modern slavery just as much as the ones forced into prostitution or farming drugs.