I guess it boils down to WHY they are begging in the first place! Is the UK truly a place where someone will starve in the gutter if the public don't give them money?
Maybe I'm just being smug middle class naieve etc, but surely those who beg 'want' to beg - as in, they are rejecting all other 'state help' for one reason or another - possibly, yes, sigh, because what they want money for is for drugs or booze.
I'm pretty sure the nice lady in my town is part of a 'professional' begging family - to them it is just a job, nothing more nor less. (OK, I have no idea if they are professionals, but given that they must be EU members, and therefore free to work, why is she spending eight hours a day outside Waitrose instead of in a 'proper' job....? The only answer surely is that she makes more money begging/selling BI than any other work she is likely to get??)
So, the bottom line is - does ANYONE in the UK actually NEED to beg to keep body and soul together - rather than to make more money than by a 'real' job or to buy drink/drugs? If the answer is 'yes', then who are they, and why?