All Campaigns subcategories:
Housing keywords:
Tenants
30 June 2017
Search site for keywords: Haringey - Homes - Council - Labour - Privatisation - Housing - Working class - Tenants - Anti-austerity
Stop demolition of homes and communities in Haringey
Housing demo, London, 13.3.16, photo James Ivens (Click to enlarge)
Nick Auvache
The fight to stop Haringey council's massive privatisation project which will raze whole areas of Tottenham and Wood Green in north London to the ground, leaving thousands homeless or displaced, will step up a gear on 3 July. On that day, local people will once again take to the streets in an attempt to put pressure on the council to abandon its plans to socially cleanse large areas of the borough.
Haringey 3 July demo leaflet (Click to enlarge)
The campaign enters a new phase given the changed political situation with a very weak Tory government facing a turbulent period ahead. The Tories may have won the election but no one doubts they are a government in crisis and Jeremy Corbyn has emerged enormously strengthened.
The Grenfell tragedy has also increased the political polarisation, exposing years of neglect where the safety of homes inhabited by working class people was sacrificed at the altar of cut backs, neglect, privatisation and outsourcing.
This changed political atmosphere will give further impetus to the campaign to stop the HDV (Haringey Development Vehicle). So far, Haringey council, run by a rabid Blairite clique, has refused to listen to the campaign, it has refused to listen to local tenants and trade unions who have pleaded with the council to reverse its decision to bulldoze thousands of homes and sell off whole swathes of property in Haringey.
Opposition within Labour
It has even refused to listen to the two local constituency Labour Parties who have instructed their council to change course! This shows the strength of feeling against the council's plans as well as the potential for success but it also shows the determination of Blairite council leader Kober to push ahead regardless of the opposition.
Incredibly the company that the council has chosen to "redevelop" the area not only has a reputation for blacklisting trade unionists but now it has been exposed, not once but twice, for attempting to use flammable cladding similar to that used on the Grenfell flats!
It attempted this on projects in Conservative controlled Australia but regulations prevented it from going ahead. Yet it has found friends in Haringey Labour council! This shows that we can't trust the private sector if we want safe, good quality housing but it also shows that we can't trust Blairite Labour.
Some 'rebel' Labour councillors have already been disciplined for voting against the scheme earlier on in the year.
Corbyn's policies
After the election there was some speculation that the project would be shelved with the real prospect of a Corbyn-led Labour government coming to power soon. This has not materialised and shows that any attempt to stop the HDV must also go hand in hand with removing the Blairites and replacing them with councillors who are genuinely committed to the ideas that Corbyn has been associated with.
He has always spoken out against social cleansing, for protecting existing council housing and the importance of building much more council housing to solve the housing crisis. He has also spoken out against privatisation and outsourcing.
In the run-up to next years council elections it is vital that Labour candidates stand on a clear policy of "No to HDV, No to privatisation and outsourcing and No to cuts".
It is equally important that tenants' organisations, trade unions and community organisations flex their muscles in the meantime. They should ensure that Labour candidates make a pledge to support these aims and if they refuse to do so then they should convene a conference to build broad support for standing candidates themselves who genuinely represent Corbyn's anti-austerity, anti-privatisation ideas.
If the HDV project is defeated it will not only be a victory for working class people in Haringey but also a huge defeat for the Blairites and the capitalist system that they are so wedded to.
Note added on 11 July:
Showing utter disregard for local residents, on 3rd July the cabinet of Haringey Labour council voted through - in seconds and in private - demolition of homes under its HDV plan.
Lobbying Haringey council, 3.7.17, photo by Chris Newby (Click to enlarge)
This version of this article (apart from the 11 July footnote) was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 30 June 2017 and may vary slightly from the version subsequently printed in The Socialist.
Donate to the Socialist Party
Finance appeal
The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
Inevitably, during the crisis we have not been able to sell the Socialist and raise funds in the ways we normally would.
We therefore urgently appeal to all our viewers to donate to our Fighting Fund.
LATEST POSTS
12 May Stop Israeli state brutality
 |
9 May Post-election meetings
15 May Birmingham Socialist Party: How can we fight for socialist change and a new workers' party?
17 May Oxfordshire & Aylesbury Socialist Party: The role of the state
18 May Bristol North Socialist Party: Liverpool - history of socialist struggle
CONTACT US
Phone our national office on 020 8988 8777
Email: [email protected]
Locate your nearest Socialist Party branch Text your name and postcode to 07761 818 206
Regional Socialist Party organisers:
Eastern: 079 8202 1969
East Mids: 077 3797 8057
London: 075 4018 9052
North East: 078 4114 4890
North West 079 5437 6096
South West: 077 5979 6478
Southern: 078 3368 1910
Wales: 079 3539 1947
West Mids: 024 7655 5620
Yorkshire: 078 0983 9793
ABOUT US
ARCHIVE
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999