Andy Burnham's pledge to tackle rough sleeping "by Christmas" has been dismantled by Freddy Gray, who argued that the move is "virtue signalling".
Speaking to GB News, the Assistant Editor at The Spectator said although it is a "noble" act by the Prime Minister, it will only be effective "in the short term".
The Prime Minister has committed to offer "everyone a route off the streets this Christmas" as he seeks to build on his pledge to end rough sleeping in Britain.
Mr Burnham is attempting to repeat efforts made during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the Everyone In scheme resulted in thousands of rough sleepers being taken in off the streets.
He said of the plan: "No-one should have to bed down in a doorway or outside a station. But we’ve seen it for so long that it feels like Westminster has started to accept it.
"I won’t accept it. That’s why my first instruction as Prime Minister was to end rough sleeping. And it’s why today we’re getting started with a national drive to get everyone in for Christmas.
"We did it in the pandemic, we can do it again. But it needs all of us. Government will put the money in, but I’m asking leaders in communities and sectors across society to play their part locally too.
"Let’s get people out the cold and let’s bring back hope."
Reacting to the plan, Mr Gray told GB News argued that although ending homelessness is a "noble Christian ambition", the Prime Minister is demonstrating "good signalling of virtue".
He said: "It's a good thing that Andy Burnham wants to pursue it, but I find it irritating, however, that he talks about it as though he's the person who's discovered this issue while announcing a policy that is effectively a copy of the policy that was there four years ago.
"So I'm afraid it looks a lot like what we see a lot from Burnham, which is good messaging, good signalling of virtue, and we are yet to see the virtue in action, or whether the virtue is properly planned or whether the virtue will result in homelessness being solved if he does it."
Mr Gray argued that although the success of the plan would be a "good achievement" it is "not on the list of very important issues" that the Government should be tackling.
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He said: "I wouldn't say it's on the list of very important issues that the British Government has to face. It's tremendously high up, but again, I think, let's not be too cynical, it's a good thing if he solves it."
Mr Gray told GB News that solving homelessness as a whole is a "very complicated picture" for any Government.
He explained: "It's a much more complicated picture, the ambition is to secure a longer term temporary accommodation which sounds a bit complicated, but I mean the system analysis in other cities and at times in Britain has been to house the homeless in hotels.
"And obviously that's shifted towards the illegal migrant problem where we have now housed illegal migrants in hotels.
"I think the ambition of everyone in the Covid pandemic was to just get people off the streets because of the emergency situation and therefore sort of spending on it was ramped up and it was effective."
Mr Gray concluded: "If it's to be a copy of that, it will be expensive. You can justify doing it on moral grounds, however, is it going to solve the long term problem?
"It hasn't in other cities, if you look at New York, where they housed the homeless in temporary accommodation in hotels, spent a huge amount of money doing it, it was effective short term, but it doesn't solve the structural problems that cause homelessness."
Mr Burnham has also announced an additional £102million to fund immediate routes off the streets this winter, including an £8.4million boost to the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund.
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