Grenfell and the instrumentalisation of suffering
The traumatised Grenfell community is being treated as a security problem
Anger at the scene of the Grenfell Tower fire
Residents, Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn respond to the horrific fire
Haringey, North London – the Front Line Against Gentrification.
Haringey council, a Labour stronghold in north London is planning to sell off huge swathes of council land and property to private developers.
Kill the Housing Bill: 13 March National Protest
Emily M explains the implications of the Housing and Planning Bill and reports from a London demonstration against it. Follow Emily on twitter: @millyrosered On Sunday 13th March, thousands of activists met at Lincoln’s Inn Fields to demonstrate their opposition to the Government’s Housing and Planning Bill. The changes to the Housing and Planning Bill will include […]
Local campaigns join forces to protest against the government’s Housing Bill
Ruth Lorimer reports from Saturday’s housing demo in central London. (pictures copyright Jim Aindow Photography – used with permission) Around 1,000 people marched to Downing Street on Saturday to protest against the Housing and Planning Bill that’s currently going through Parliament. The march was made up of campaigners from a large range of local housing campaigns who have pooled resources […]
Colourful march continues East London housing fight
James B and Colin Revolting report: The Focus E15 Mothers housing activists led a march of around 500 people through Stratford, East London on Saturday 19 September to mark the second anniversary of their campaign. The ‘March against Evictions’ was loud, colourful and restated the determination of campaigners to win their battle. The broad range […]
Social Housing, Not Social Cleansing: Focus E15 Campaign’s Victories
The mothers of the Focus E15 campaign are beacons of resistance for all of us fighting austerity. Since being served eviction notices in August 2013, they have organised demonstrations, council sit-ins and a hugely successful occupation of the Carpenters Estate. Joy Macready visited the campaign’s weekly Saturday stall outside Wilkos on the Broadway in Stratford […]
1915 Glasgow Rent Strike: how workers fought and won over housing
One hundred years ago the workers and housewives of Glasgow forced the government to place on the statute book the first-ever Rent Restrictions Act.
Five reasons why tomorrow’s Tower Hamlets election matters
Rabina Khan would be a mayor for women and a mayor against austerity, writes Andrew Ward Tomorrow morning brings the mayoral election in Tower Hamlets. The two frontrunners are Labour’s John Biggs and independent candidate Rabina Khan. Here is why a victory for the latter matters for left-wing politics in the East End, but also beyond. […]
Glasgow Homeless Caseworkers strike: defending services against austerity and a Labour council
Homeless Caseworkers in Glasgow have been on strike for ten weeks for decent pay. Austerity is forcing working-class people in the city out of their homes. But, as Christine Bird reports, Glasgow’s Labour council seems more concerned about imposing Tory cuts than providing services to homeless people. Last Friday, after they had been on strike for nine weeks, the council made […]
Lessons from Europe – Marina Prentoulis, Shane Fitzgerald, Cat Boyd
Video from the ‘Lessons from Europe’ session at They Don’t Represent Us featuring activists from Greece, Scotland and Ireland.
Occupations for homeless rights and education in Manchester
Ian Allinson reports from a lively, if soggy, day in Manchester for the occupations in the city centre for homeless rights and at Manchester University for free education. The homeless rights camp had been in St Peter’s Square, outside the Town Hall, for some weeks while Manchester’s Labour council paid money to drag homeless people […]
Doing politics differently: Glyn Robbins in Bethnal Green and Bow
Continuing our ‘Doing politics differently’ series of interviews with activists and candidates of the left, Sybil Cock interviews Glyn Robbins, who is standing as a Trade Union and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) and Left Unity candidate in Bethnal Green and Bow. Glyn is a well-known figure on the left in Tower Hamlets. He was Chair of […]
Housing and the right to the city
The right to the city is just as important as the right to housing, argues Ruth Lorimer This article originally appeared in the Spring 2015 issue of the rs21 magazine. Housing is one of those everyday issues that don’t seem that ‘political’ until they come under attack. Pretty much everyone now agrees there is a […]
Cat’s credit crunching: why are house prices so high?
Serious Sherrl asks: Interest rates have been at a record low for many years. But nobody in London can afford to buy even a tiny flat. Why are house prices and rents rocketing in London? What are banks and building societies doing with all that money? Who is benefitting from all this? Dear Sherrl Keeping interest rates low […]
Residents and supporters march against plans to demolish the Aylesbury estate
Around 200 people joined the March for Aylesbury in Southwark, south London, yesterday to protest against longstanding plans to demolish the Aylesbury council estate. Residents are demanding that Labour-run Southwark council refurbishes their 2,400 homes instead. The march started with a rally at Burgess Park before marching down Albany Road, through the estate, past its […]
rs21 magazine Spring 2015 launches tomorrow
The Spring 2015 issue of the rs21 magazine will be launching at our event for International Women’s day 50 Shades of Struggle: Women and the New Social Movements taking place at LSE tomorrow (Wednesday 11 March, 7pm, East Building, Room E304) – get your copy at the meeting, from your local rs21 group, by subscribing or […]
The Assault on London Housing Rights
Graham Campbell reports on two local struggles to defend council housing in London, and draws some conclusions about the social significance of the Coalition’s assault on social homes. February 14th to 23rd is designated by Radical Housing Network as Housing Action Week, and it certainly has been. Leading up to the actions of the past […]
Homes for people — not for profit
Adam DC reports on the March for Homes Up to 4,000 people marched in the cold and wet from east and south London on Saturday (31 January) to demand decent homes for people living in the capital. Around 2,000 marched from Shoreditch, an area where rents have been rents ramped up massively over recent years. […]
The struggle for housing
rs21 members and supporters will be joining the London March for Homes tomorrow. The march is assembling in Shoreditch and Elephant and Castle, and converging on City Hall. Below is the text of the leaflet we have produced in support of the demonstration, including a handy infographic, and an excerpt from an article by Ruth […]
Poverty in the UK: Joseph Rowntree Foundation report
A new report on poverty contains key information about how society is changing – changes that are likely to influence the shape of struggles to come, writes Colin Wilson. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s recent report shows the government’s claimed “economic recovery” is doing little for large numbers of people – we live in a society […]
Housing charity workers strike for a week to defend their services
Unite members at the housing charity St Mungo’s Broadway will be taking seven full days of strike action beginning at 8am Friday morning. Unite Convenor Adam Lambert explains why. We are taking action due to attacks on terms on conditions that have been imposed by new management. This is possibly set to be the biggest […]
Taking control of the future of the city
What are cities? How do they work? Ruth Lorimer asks basic questions that outline a fresh Marxist approach to grasping what neoliberal capitalism is doing to our urban spaces. Strands running through urban space Cities are inspiring and exciting places to be – but campaigns about housing, public space and gentrification are often not. Why is this? We […]