Month: March 2013

politics, The Whitstable Gazette2 Comments

Isn’t this the meanest legislation ever made?

christopherjamesstone

A friend of mine has just received confirmation that, because of the bedroom tax, he will now be required to find an extra £13.38 per week towards his rent. My friend is disabled and the spare room for which he is liable is little more than a box room. Two square feet less and it would have been defined as a box room. The letter also contains a veiled threat. “If you don’t keep up with your rent payments,” it says, “your home will be at risk.” Isn’t this just the meanest piece of legislation ever? What it really amounts … Continue reading Isn’t this the meanest legislation ever made?

politics, protest, The Whitstable Gazette3 Comments

Spare houses for the rich, no spare bedrooms for the poor

christopherjamesstone

There were two items of news this week which seemed to fit uncannily together. One of them was about the bedroom tax, one of the new raft of welfare reforms which are being brought in by this government to cut people’s benefits. There was a story about it in last week’s Whitstable Gazette: about Ian Salt, who will lose benefits because he keeps a kidney dialysis machine in his spare room. How selfish of him. Doesn’t he know that in this new world of austerity it is a crime to be sick? After all, we need that money to pay for banker’s … Continue reading Spare houses for the rich, no spare bedrooms for the poor

politics, protest, The Whitstable Gazette6 Comments

Lawfully resisting being evicted from your home

christopherjamesstone

I’ve just been watching a fascinating bit of footage on YouTube. It is film of an eviction taking place in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire. If you want to see it, it’s called “The People v The Banks: Conviction beats Eviction”. The reason it’s so important is that in this age of austerity many people are losing their homes. What this piece of footage does is to show you how you can resist an eviction lawfully, and how in many cases it is the bailiffs who are breaking the law. This was certainly true in this case. The most important line is … Continue reading Lawfully resisting being evicted from your home