I actually think this thread is interesting as it reveals a lot about us all and our attitudes to the ' new Europe'. Seriously. And I haven't read the Guardian for a week. Nor do I read the Daily Fail or the Daily Excess.

I didn't like some of the initial comments as I felt there was a lot of overt and covert racism being displayed towards what was a vulnerable economically challenged group of people. There was also a bit of snobbery expressed ie somehow the BI brought the inner city ever closer to Forest Hill which contradicted its so called exclusivity.
I too felt that it was becoming obsessional when people started to log their every move ie where and when they got on and off trains and what car they drove. However the bottom line for me is the involvement of children who seem to spending all day on the pavement, and at that point its time to get upset for the reasons I and other people have listed above.

Its more culturally accepted in parts of Europe to sell or beg with children , or chase after people asking them to buy the mag, as there is little in the way of social security and the emotional pressure is the only way in which some people can scrape a living. Even in Spanish cities, disabled people sell lottery tickets in very overt ways, in a manner that would be denigrated in the UK as demeaning and patronising. Its not however that different from the principle of the Big Issue where people benefit from commission on sales.

The 'big issue' here is surely a cultural clash between eastern and western europeans particularly where people are from former communist countries .If the sellers can be persuaded against involving their children then I am happy to let them get on with it.
It would also be good to have their pitch moved to another location, perhaps outside Smiths, where the pavement is wider and the cashpoint is further away. They might even find that people are more willing to cough up. And then we'll all be happy. And maybe we'll continue this debate on a new thread entitled ' New Europe' .....