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| Protesters gather at Lincoln’s Inn Fields in London. Picture: Federica Tedeschi |
Thousands of demonstrators gathered at Lincoln’s Inn Fields today and marched through central London against the Tory Housing Bill.
The
magnitude of this protest indicates how severe the housing crisis in
Britain is and this is particularly true in London.
According to
the Government, the bill is meant to turn “generation
rent into generation buy”, but both the protest organisers and the
demonstrators believe the Housing Bill will make the current housing crisis
worse for council, housing association and private tenants.
Decent homes
at reasonable prices should not be considered a luxury, but a human right and council houses should be synonymous
of security, rather than a temporary solution. In fact, forcing ordinary
Londoners out of their council places sounds quite destabilising, especially
for families with young children.
“The Housing Bill affects us directly because
our rent is going to possibly increase, forcing
some of us to move. This is also a way to destroy our communities; we
live in a block of six and we all know each other, but there is a chance we
will be leaving if the Bill comes into force”, said Richard Cowley, an
Islington resident who joined the protest with his partner and kids.
Demonstrators
today descended to Parliament Square holding placards and banners that read: ‘People before profits’, ‘Kill the Housing Bill’ and ’Resist evictions’, not only to stop the
Bill, but to ask for more council houses and regulation of private tenants, as
well.
Suzanne
Muna, branch secretary of the Unite Housing workers and one of the organisers of today’s demonstration, said:
“What we need is a proper solution for
working class people. We are getting poorer as our wages are dropping compared
to the cost of living and particularly compared to the rising cost of housing.
So, we want to make our protest visible.
“I know that it probably won’t stop the Bill
going through on its own, but it is one way of expressing the anger and we need
to follow that up with other things, like the Union branch taking industrial
actions and adding the cost of housing to the pay claim that we make, for
example”.
Ms Muna explained
different strategies to deal with the current housing problem, but the scenario
will not change until we have much more generalised strike actions: “Then we will have a real chance of winning
our demands,” she added.
It will most
likely take a year before the Housing Bill is implemented and this is probably
a long enough time to build a strong movement capable of stopping the bill, even
if it is passed into law.
The ‘Kill the Housing Bill’ campaign is an
alliance of tenants of all tenures, housing workers, MPs, traveller groups,
Councillors and trade unions concerned at the threat posed by the Housing and
Planning Bill.
