Your campaign to stamp out begging in Brighton and Hove misses an important point.

While you have printed some excellent articles highlighting the difficulties homeless people face, you have consistently ignored the role of central government in making their lives more unbearable.

Over Christmas, the homeless charity, Shelter was forced by government regulations to turn away 75 homeless people into sub-zero temperatures.

These people were deemed "not homeless enough" as they had not made contact with outreach workers.

Shelter spoke out about their concerns for the 75 - some long-term rough sleepers, some new to the street and some asylum seekers.

The charity received the full wrath of Louise Casey, the Homelessness Tsar, who believed that Shelter was "scaremongering".

Such bullying behaviour by unelected government appointees is unacceptable.

Charities have been advised that their funding may be reviewed if they do not back the new Rough Sleepers Initiative.

Ms Casey and her Rough Sleepers Unit should stop instructing charities and the public what they can and cannot do.

Given the incredible wealth of our society, homelessness and begging should not exist.

It is absurd, however, to blame homeless people for their plight and thus obscure the obscene inequalities in our society.

Andy Player, Western Street, Brighton

Songs of prey

T Andrew (January 4), states his concern over the demise of our song birds and suggests that the culprits could be peregrine falcons and sparrowhawks.

Although these two species are increasing, I am not convinced they are wiping out our song bird populations.

Peregrines feed almost entirely on feral pigeons and starlings, while sparrowhawks prefer collared doves and starlings.

These favoured prey species abound in good numbers and are virtually unaffected by predation.

It is a known statistic birds of prey numbers that are regulated by the availability of prey items and not the other way round.

I think we must look to the state of our environment at ground level and in the air to find the real causes for the decimation of our birdlife and let us hope we can find out the answers before things become irreversible.

-Roger Musselle, Downs Valley Road, Woodingdean