The Socialist 24 January 2018

Socialist planning needed to end privatisation scam

Turn Carillion crisis into movement against privatisation and capitalism

Welsh NHS crisis - we cannot go on like this

£2m to remove Grenfell-type cladding: residents to get bill

Private profit out of our NHS

Leeds playing fields rescued from Blairites

May's "war on plastic" still puts profits before the planet

News in brief

Vietnam War: 50 years since the Tet Offensive

Lecturers vote for strikes against pension cuts

PCS executive agrees next steps in pay campaign

Brum care workers protest council attacks

Amy Murphy Usdaw campaign meeting

Ballots against Bromley privatisers

Ferrybridge: Workers down tools over unpaid wages

Punishment of Tamimi family awakens wave of international solidarity

Defend Louise Harrison - save Yorkshire women's services!

Victory against government's war on eastern European homeless

Women rally defiantly

Gentrification scourge hits Kent

Kirklees council opens consultation of library services

Southampton: Pay rise for uni boss, job losses for lecturers

Red Mary - a Force of Nature

Obituary: Maureen Mulhearn 1945-2018

Carillion and the construction industry

Carillion crisis exposes PFI chaos

Universal credit: set up to fail

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£2m to remove Grenfell-type cladding: residents to get bill

No charges to residents! Cladding off now!

Flammable cladding can act as a chimney, spreading flames throughout a tower, photo by Jim Linwood (CC) (Click to enlarge)

Helen O'Connor, Lambeth and South West London Socialist Party

Residents in the 'Citiscape' housing complex in Croydon, south London, have learnt that tests revealed the cladding on their block poses the same fire hazard as Grenfell Tower.

Disgracefully, the landlord, Proxima GR Properties, refuses to pay a penny to remove it. The firm instead demands residents pay the £2 million pound bill - costing leaseholders £31,300 a flat, more than many workers earn in a year.

The landlord is so determined to absolve itself of health and safety obligations that this dispute will be heard at a property tribunal in February. Meanwhile, Proxima GR has stated its intention to charge leaseholders for fire warden patrols!

While residents face the stark possibility of being made bankrupt and homeless, Vincent Tchenguiz, one of the multimillionaire moguls behind Proxima, recently purchased a 165-foot superyacht.

Developers

Croydon has become the new 'get rich quick' town as property developers build hundreds of overpriced, cheaply constructed flats. In November the Croydon Advertiser reported that Inspired Homes has converted Impact House into 200 'micro-flats' being sold for £324,950 each.

Residents at Citiscape are right to raise concerns. The Grenfell Tower fire was not a one-off.

In November 2017 there were fires in blocks in Manchester and Newcastle. Thanks to brave fire crews all residents were safely evacuated.

There was a further fire in December 2017 on the Seymour Hill estate near Belfast. And earlier this month the firefighter in charge of putting out Nottingham railway station said sprinklers would have stopped the fire developing.

This situation is shocking and unacceptable. Big landlords and councils have the financial capacity to ensure all tenants and leaseholders are safe. Residents can organise to demand this. The Socialist Party says:

No charges to residents! Landlords and councils must use their reserves to pay for all safety measures immediately and in full, and bill the government if necessary
Stop waiting for test results or service charges - cladding off now, before there are further tragedies
Immediately install sprinkler systems in all multi-storey accommodation
24-hour fire patrols - and immediate temporary or permanent rehousing if residents prefer - where there is any delay
No safety, no rent! Residents can organise to campaign for their demands, including withholding rent and service charges if necessary. Read more: how working class communities can organise to fight for safety - justice for Grenfell and safety for all!

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Turn Carillion crisis into movement against privatisation and capitalism