A TORY minister inflamed the row over homelessness last night with an outspoken attack on Britain's beggars, the second of the new year's pre-election battle.
A Home Office Minister, Mr David Maclean, provoked a furious reaction when he claimed most beggars on London's streets were Scots who slept rough from choice. The Scots-born MP for Penrith labelled those who asked him for money a disgrace" and "an embarrassment".
In an echo of a controversial interview by the Labour leader, Mr Tony Blair, earlier in the week for the Big Issue magazine, Mr Maclean said: "I always give them something. I give them a piece of my mind.
"Most of them are Scottish and I've never met one yet who politely and gently asked for money. There are no genuine beggars. Those who are in need have got all the social benefits they require. Every time we go and check, we find they won't go in hostels. Beggars are doing so out of choice because they find it more pleasant."
Mr Maclean's claims were immediately disputed by the housing charity Shelter and condemned by Labour and Scottish National Party politicians and by the Bishop of Edinburgh.
Meanwhile, the battle between Conservative and Labour to dominate the law-and-order agenda proved too much for the right-wing Tory, Sir Teddy Taylor. He commented that the apparent competition between Mr Blair and Mr Maclean was a "rather sickening contest" and added that those who expressed such views "would be better engaged in spending two or three hours per week in voluntary activities designed to help these pathetic and sad people out of the miserable lifestyle they have chosen."
A Labour frontbencher Mr Henry McLeish, said: "David Maclean's comments are disgraceful and an insult to fellow Scots." Mr McLeish was later unimpressed when the Minister apologised for any offence caused by his claims and accused Labour of deliberately misinterpreting his words.
But before the "apology", Mr Maclean received support from a fellow Conservative MP, Mr Terry Dicks. He said: "I am not certain they are all Scots. But I think those who are begging should be hosed down and that the disgrace of Cardboard City should be broken up.
"Those we should be looking after are those who have been abused at home. Most of the others, I have to say, are just scum. They are aggressive and intimidating and they should be cleared off the streets."