Economic expert: Begging is increasing on the streets of London

An economic expert has blamed the British government, political parties, universities and the public for the rise of poverty across the UK.

Press TV conducted an interview with professor of binary economics Rodney Shakespeare. He said that begging is increasing on the streets of London, adding vagrancy is a reflection of cut backs, all of which are to do with upholding the existing philosophy, the existing pitiful and economic practices.

Shakespeare made the remarks in reaction to new figures showing prosecutions for begging have soared across England and Wales.

The figures, provided by the Crown Prosecution Service and published in The Guardian on Sunday, showed a 70-percent increase in the number of begging charges.

According to the data, 2,771 cases were brought before magistrates in 2013-2014 compared with 1,626 recorded in the previous year.

The current UK government led by Prime Minister David Cameron launched austerity measures when it came to power in 2010 in a bid to tackle the country’s mounting debt and sluggish growth, but the policies have sparked public protests in recent years.