The Socialist 6 July 2016

Stand firm against the Blairite coup

Stand firm and organise against the Blairite coup

Demo says: Keep Corbyn, sack the Blairites

Keep Corbyn demonstrations in Leeds

Meeting discusses how to get rid of 'blue or red' Tories

Stevenage supports Corbyn

Join the Socialist Party to fight for socialist change

Why I joined: I want a future for my generation

Why I joined: My real education started when I joined

NSSN conference: Implacable opposition to austerity

After Chilcot: put Blair in the dock

Osborne plans to cut corporation tax again

Rough sleeper death sparks calls for action

Them & Us

Junior doctors renew battle over contracts

Teachers' strike: Angry and defiant

Unite policy conference 2016: Union could place itself at the centre of anti-austerity fight

RMT conference takes fighting position on urgent political questions

Bus drivers' strikes continue for fair pay

Manchester firefighters fight cuts

Hundreds protest to demand votes at 16

Defiant Butterfields tenants visit landlord's house

Southampton Rallies to counter fascist threat

Turkey: Deadly terrorist attack at Istanbul airport

Mexico: Teachers continue strike despite extreme repression

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Rough sleeper death sparks calls for action

Rough sleeper, photo by Pedro Ribeiro Simões (Creative Commons)} (Click to enlarge)

Chas Berry, North Kent Socialist Party

The death of a homeless man, sleeping rough in the centre of Chatham for over a year, has brought calls for action over the spiralling housing crisis in Kent's Medway towns.

Samson Paine's body was discovered in a tent very near council offices where over 1,000 homeless applications have been received in the last year alone. Many people are asking why nothing more is being done to support some of the most vulnerable in our society, and how such tragedies can be prevented in future.

A new campaign, 'Medway Justice for Homeless People', is drawing together many who are angry and want change. At a meeting called by local activist Guy Jordan there was unanimous support for an enquiry into Samson's death - but also recognition that this single tragedy highlights a bigger problem.

"Being homeless is a situation any of us could be just two steps away from," said Guy, "and cuts to local authorities have exacerbated the situation. The people we elected have got to carry the can collectively."

Guy's comments go to the heart of the problem. Over many years, Medway's Tory council has outsourced its homeless accommodation provision to private landlords and ignored its responsibilities to those most in need. Labour in opposition has been tame in holding it to account for its wilful neglect. Now the chickens are coming home to roost.

Continued austerity is literally killing people. The campaign already has the support of Medway Trade Union Council, and general union Unite's Kent 'community' branch. Reverse all cuts - for mass building of council homes. No more deaths on our streets.