Class War

http://www.islingtontribune.com/news/2012/mar/cost-living-islington-report-says-families-need-least-%C2%A372000-year-rent-two-bedroom-hom

London, like all major cities, is a mix of rich and poor living often side by side - but for how much longer? It would be easy to blame the current government policy on capping Housing Benefit on driving the working classes out of city centres but there is much more to this story than meets the eye.

Class War is a term that seems archaic in the post-Thatcher world of a so-called classless society. Truth is Britain is more divided than ever. These divisions are as class based as at any time in history. But the war is not from the working class against the middle and upper classes but the reverse.

There has been much comment about the demonization of the working class in recent years, especially the 'White British Working Class'. At best this group (of which I would be considered a member) is seen as a forgotten group my mainstream politics and politicians; at worst we are seen as work-shy, benefit living, racists, uneducated, violent and a blight on cities. We are mocked in the media, the butt of endless caricatures, the only group, it seems, that can be without fear of being brought to book by the PC brigade. Do we deserve this? No, we do not. But this is not the issue. Race and ethnicity have little to do with Class War. Delusion is everything.

My mum used to say there are only 2 classes of people - those that have to work for a living, and those who do not. Why do people do the lottery? To be in the position of the latter group that's why. If you have to work for a living you are Working Class. So why do some people define themselves as middle class? How does this group define itself? Seems to me it doesn't. Perhaps once it was defined by being in a profession or by level of education. Not anymore. I'd say the middle class define themselves as not being working class and that's it. And anyone who is not the same as them is working class. Like I say, delusional.
Of course this delusion wouldn't matter if it didn't mean that we have to suffer not only derision, being feared and despised, but now we are being pushed out of our homes and our cities.

Once upon a time successive governments pushed forward policies to build homes for the working class of Britain. Why was this housing needed? I'll tell you why, slums and slum-landlords. 1000s of people lived in overcrowded hovels, with insecure tenancies and the fear that at any time the landlord could kick them out. Slum clearance began between the First & Second World Wars but really took off out of necessity after WW2 because of bombing of British cities meant a housing crisis. Even so it took many years for people to be moved out of the slums and into what was seen as palaces by many, with electricity, heating and indoor plumbing, and families not having to share accommodation and facilities with other families. These council houses and flats offered good accommodation and secure tenancy - but at a price. The rents were often far higher that people were used to paying. I remember my parents telling me of the interview they had with the housing officer when offered their council flat; they were questioned about their ability to pay the rent and reminded that they would lose their tenancy if they got into arrears.

These council houses and flats were more than just good accommodation and secure tenancy though - they were (and are) people's homes. Home is where the heart, is so the saying goes; but it seems that if you don't own your home then you can't possibly have pride in your home or a stake in the area in which you live. Really? If some estates are in a state it's because the councils have let them run down and they have become filled with tenants who have social problems. Let me explain that last point. For many years now to stand any chance of getting tenancy of a council or housing association property you have to be a person in need, which often equals a person with any one of a number social problems such as mental illness, drug or alcohol addiction, release from prison etc. Now I'm not saying that people with these problems should not be entitled to housing but what I am saying is that when these people are given no other support and are just dumped on an estate that estate will begin to decline to the point that only the truly desperate will live there. And many people are desperate for the security of a home.

There is, we are constantly told, a chronic shortage of housing in Britain, especially what is referred to as 'affordable housing'. But who defines what is affordable? How much should we pay for a home, whether it is our own or rented? Property prices are market driven, dependent on supply and demand, and let's not forget, the whims of those who decide that one area is more 'up-and-coming' than another. In cities this means that, just like in the country villages, local people are priced out of any opportunity to buy a property in their area. Private rents are likewise driven by the same, meaning that for example, to rent a property privately in my area will cost as much per week as a council or housing association tenant might pay in a month.

Whose fault is that? Not the council tenants, yet we are going to be the ones that have to pay.
http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/ourwork/affordable-rent
Councils will be allowed to charge up to 80% of the cost of private rents to their tenants. Why do we have to pay for the fact that people with more money than sense are willing to pay stupid amounts in rent to live in a 'trendy' area?

The article at the start of this post describes what is happening in housing in my area as 'social cleansing' and that doesn't feel like an exaggeration.

It is war, sisters and brothers, Class War.