“Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians are all descendants of Ancient Rus, which was the largest state in Europe. Slavic and other … MoreRead more…
Time to end the use of “(un)affordable rent”
Read on below or dowload a PDF Recently I discovered that a tenant living in a 3 bedroomed house on … MoreRead more…
A semi-permanent austerity regime continues in local government
The National Audit Office did a report on local government financing in November of last year. It provides and overview … MoreRead more…
Denying the housing crisis in Swindon
Back in October David Renard, in his capacity as Environment spokesperson for the Local Government Association wrote that “There is … MoreRead more…
Our economy is an organised rip-off
“British capitalism has been a playground for asset strippers, speculators and monopolists” “When business profits, we all do.” Keir Starmer … MoreRead more…
No housing crisis in Peppa Pig World
Swindon Tories deny there is a housing crisis In response to a Labour resolution calling on Swindon Council to declare … MoreRead more…
Which of these merits action?
Purging the left appears to be more important than a Labour council operating slum-like conditions What politicans do tells you … MoreRead more…
Different from the rest of us
Johnson appears incapable of recognising a real world event if it contradicts his opinion Many years ago Prime Minister Ted … MoreRead more…
Penalising the poor
“…social care should not be a commodity…As with the NHS it should be free at the point of use and … MoreRead more…
New Labour’s culpability for the housing crisis
“After 13 years of New Labour in government there were actually 655,000 less ‘social’ homes than there were when they … MoreRead more…
Help to Buy drives the widening gulf between house prices and earnings
In a recent letter to the Swindon Advertiser I quoted the price of a median house in Swindon increasing to … MoreRead more…
Swindon house prices race ahead of earnings
In a recent letter to the Swindon Advertiser I wrote about house price rises continuing to outstrip wages. Since then … MoreRead more…
Property price rises are bad news
The unattributed article, “Property prices rise in Swindon”, informed us that the average property price in April was £233,294. The … MoreRead more…
Labour, ‘gongs’ and the British Empire
Recently Shadow Cabinet Minister Kate Green was asked by Nick Robinson on his podcast whether she thought that honours should … MoreRead more…
Why can’t we have a “nation state law” over here?
Keir Starmer fails to condemn the racism of the Israeli state or to challenge far right racist views of an … MoreRead more…
Is Labour a democracy or an autocracy?
Is the Labour apparatus really going to war against its members rather than the Tory government? “Article 10 (of the … MoreRead more…
There’s too much lip service paid to tenant engagement
This is an article published in Inside Housing Tenants have to fight for the right to be consulted on a … MoreRead more…
An attack on democracy and freedom of criticism
“Article 10 (of the European Convention of Human Rights) will protect Labour Party members who, for example, make legitimate criticisms … MoreRead more…
Tenants right to choose
Prior to the pandemic Swindon’s council tenants were able to phone in any housing repair. During the pandemic the housing … MoreRead more…
Council tenants should have the choice of how they access housing services
A statement by Swindon Council tenant representatives Swindon Council has unilaterally decided that council tenants can only ask for non-urgent … MoreRead more…