The Socialist 9 August 2016

Stand firm for socialism

#KeepCorbyn: stand firm for socialism

Liverpool: Corbyn slams "politics of the elite"

Wallasey Labour meet in resistance to the Blairites

Mood for unity but not with right-wing Labour infiltrators

Thousands attend Corbyn rally in Cornwall

Bristol: Jeremy Corbyn wins support from young people

Hull: Jeremy Corbyn rally the biggest for 20 years

Jeremy Corbyn attracts 1,000 in York

Fresh bank crash looms

No to new grammars

Fight to defend HIV drug victory

UK wage drop as bad as Greece

Privatised medical record chaos

Them & Us

Grunwick strike 40 years on - lessons of an epic battle

Fawley strike defeats 'race to bottom' exploitation of migrant workers

Low paid cleaners declare victory after 58 days on strike

Samworth Brothers step up bullying and intimidation of workers

Communication Workers Union backs Jeremy Corbyn

HMY Radford shopfitters strike against penny-pinching company

South Wales NUM supports Jeremy Corbyn

Paul Reilly for RMT EC

2011 riots: An outpouring of anger at the system

Axe the Housing Act: 'We can't pay, we'll organise and we'll stay'

Great reception in Hackney for Chicago 'Black Lives Matter' socialist

South London #BlackLivesMatter protest marches on Downing Street

Leeds Pride 2016: Pride must be political!

Sanctioned - a victim of government callousness

Food waste - the logic of capitalism

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Axe the Housing Act: 'We can't pay, we'll organise and we'll stay'

No to rent rises
No more privatisation

Axe the Housing Act! Photo James Ivens (Click to enlarge)

The housing crisis continues to deepen under this rotten Tory government. Many renters are now shelling out over half their net income to private landlords. But despite the acute shortage of affordable housing, Teresa May's ministers are pursuing a vicious campaign against social housing tenants. This is on top of the Tories' vindictive 'bedroom tax'.

The 2016 Housing Act - along with extending the 'right to buy' to housing association homes, which will benefit private landlords - will force council and housing association tenants to pay market rents if their household income is over £30,000 a year (£40,000 in London). This 'pay to stay' will affect over 10% of tenants, forcing many into rent arrears with the dreadful prospect of eviction from their homes.

It is due to start in April 2017 but the government has still to publish the regulations. However, in advance of this, and despite Jeremy Corbyn's opposition to 'pay to stay', Labour-run Greenwich council in south London has written to its 22,000 council and social housing tenants telling them it will be implementing this Tory measure.

One outraged tenant, who is also an active trade unionist, told the Socialist: "The local Labour dominated council, after years of attacking its own workforce with cuts, privatisation and low pay has now embarked on another phase of the capitalist, Tory plan to destroy the lives of working class people... What is needed now is for every worker and tenant to unite and fight back."

And Greenwich tenants are fighting back under the slogan of 'we can't pay, we'll organise and we'll stay'. When the increases come through people should join a mass campaign of non-payment and resist moves to evict people from their homes. The campaign aims to mobilise local council and housing association tenants, alongside trade unionists, to fight for council housing in Greenwich with affordable rents.

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#KeepCorbyn: stand firm for socialism