http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/nov/20/housing-reform-end-lifetime-council-tenancies

Surely evicting people for working hard and paying their rent on time is a bit... well... legally dodgy?

I mean I'm no expert but my guess is that a human rights lawyer could drive a tank through this, particularly since the people being evicted won't be getting made homeless for doing anything wrong, in fact quite the reverse, they'll be thrown out of their homes for the heinous crime of doing well for themselves.

In particular the proposed law seem incompatible with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which states that

1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.

2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_8_of_the_European_Convention_on_Human_Rights



For a discussion on Article 8 as it pertains to housing, see here:
 http://localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4068%3Ain-the-breach&catid=60%3Ahousing-articles&q=&Itemid=28

That said, I'm fully aware of the current practice of simply legalizing injustice, of saying "yeah, well, so what?" and sending the thugs in anyway. I'm also aware that Human Rights as constituted currently aren't really for the ordinary innocent people they were originally intended to protect, but rather a charter for crooks, thugs, terrorists and other scum to carry on doing whatever they like.

But this law is just so punitive - it's the sort of thing the Taliban would do. It has the same flagrant injustice, the revelling in unfair treatment of helpless, innocent people. The pandering to the very worst qualities of human nature, particularly jealousy that someone else is happy, and the desire not to get the same deal for oneself, but to take it away from your victim.

My prediction is that the shitmunching, hate-filled general public will buy it enthusiastically (in fact, they already are) and MPs will vote for it simply because they're spineless careerist dingbats, BUT - the Lords is another story and there may well be legal challenges - possibly serious ones that kill it dead.

Anyone else have any thoughts? Or is this a "marginal issue" for activists?