Tony Blair has made it possible for ministers to receive an extra £18,000 a year to assist them in maintaining a second home, combating rising costs in the housing market.
At the same time, the National Housing Federation has warned that homelessness in the South West is reaching crisis levels. The NHF blames a chronic lack of affordable housing. The result has been that many thousands of people in the region were left homeless this Christmas, few with the resources to reach institutional care centres located mainly in wealthy boroughs - often seen as a ploy to help prevent wealthy city boroughs from being "smeared" by homelessness.
The main centralisation of homelessness is in London were there is a complete lack of affordable housing or rentable accommodation available for those out of work. No unemployment benefits exist for those without a permanent address.
Meanwhile, government ministers have put pressure on the prime minister to receive extended housing allowances, they say that they are struggling to make ends meet on annual salaries of up to £128,000. They want to be able to claim the same benefit claimed by backbench MPs serving constituencies outside inner London, which is intended to help them keep a home in the capital.
The average house price in the UK is just under £135,000 a year and the average house price in London is now £233,683. It would then be possible for a government minister to pay of the price of their house with a high interest mortgage in less than five years. For the average homeowner it is more than thirty years before a mortgage loan can be repaid, without assistance.
A review board to overlook backhand deals benefiting wealthy government ministers in such a way and managing the allocation of taxpayer’s money must be brought into order to prevent such drastic mismanagement of funds.
However, I suggest that an organised squat-drop should be assembled and given sufficient cover with which to infiltrate the Houses of Parliament claiming Section 6 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 as amended by Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Use their own laws against them.
I'm game.
http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2002/20020007.htm
At the same time, the National Housing Federation has warned that homelessness in the South West is reaching crisis levels. The NHF blames a chronic lack of affordable housing. The result has been that many thousands of people in the region were left homeless this Christmas, few with the resources to reach institutional care centres located mainly in wealthy boroughs - often seen as a ploy to help prevent wealthy city boroughs from being "smeared" by homelessness.
The main centralisation of homelessness is in London were there is a complete lack of affordable housing or rentable accommodation available for those out of work. No unemployment benefits exist for those without a permanent address.
Meanwhile, government ministers have put pressure on the prime minister to receive extended housing allowances, they say that they are struggling to make ends meet on annual salaries of up to £128,000. They want to be able to claim the same benefit claimed by backbench MPs serving constituencies outside inner London, which is intended to help them keep a home in the capital.
The average house price in the UK is just under £135,000 a year and the average house price in London is now £233,683. It would then be possible for a government minister to pay of the price of their house with a high interest mortgage in less than five years. For the average homeowner it is more than thirty years before a mortgage loan can be repaid, without assistance.
A review board to overlook backhand deals benefiting wealthy government ministers in such a way and managing the allocation of taxpayer’s money must be brought into order to prevent such drastic mismanagement of funds.
However, I suggest that an organised squat-drop should be assembled and given sufficient cover with which to infiltrate the Houses of Parliament claiming Section 6 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 as amended by Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Use their own laws against them.
I'm game.
http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2002/20020007.htm 
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Comments
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Rich get richer....etc
06.01.2004 17:32
There is an issue of need and greed here, as usual. What the average citizen has to struggle with in and out for year on end, the politician seems to expect as a necessity and as soon as possible. The injustice is that as most people seem to be spiralling into debt and low wage jobs and higher prices and constant tax hikes, a cosseted relative few are cushioned whatever the political or economic climate. This is why so many of us now choose not to vote anymore, as it seems to do nothing. We are apathetic, even they are apathetic, as the only thing they seem to be concerned with is raising their already enormous salaries even higher.
There is unfairness, there is injustice and there are policies made by politicians!!!
Until we as a large group of people, with the right focus, demand a fairer society for the majority of ordinary citizens in this country, we will all be rode roughshod over by an increasingly wealthy and out-of-touch elite. I think actually that situation is already with us now.
Timbo O'the 'Pool
Tim Hughes
Same goes for pensions. See here...
07.01.2004 22:49
MPs vote themselves pension rise
For details of MP and Minsterial pay:
None
not quite that simple
09.01.2004 13:38
saying but......
1) our MPs are paid pretty badly compared with other elected
representatives (and then we're surprised/pissed off when we get crap
ones!). i'm not saying that MPs should be given money for nothing...but
actually if i was living in a distant (to london) part of the UK i'd
kinda want my MP to have somewhere to live in my constituency as well as
having to be in london to represent me (that's without going into the
whole issue of indirect representation and indeed democracy... but
anyway...)
2) homelessness is obviously effected by a lack of suitable/affordable
housing, but its certainly not the only/most important cause. at this
point i could go on and on....but i dont want to bore people
(particularly those who already know what i'd say!). yes we need more
homes. but we also need to address the real causes of homelessness -
poverty, lack of employment/prospects, mental health, dependencies,
relationship break ups... and that's without getting into the whole
question of what happens to people when they become homeless and the
cost of not dealing with that properly (ie long term homelessness and
people who are - quite rightly - chosing to stay outside the system when
what 'the system' offers them is utterly crap).
anyway... dont wanna go on too much.... but did want to point out that
it's not always as simple as slating the bad guys (just cos they're bad
doesnt mean they are always to blame!)
cheers
toby
Toby Blume
e-mail:
toby@groundswell.org.uk