KHOODEELAAR! contextual replay of our diagnosis of racists at UK Indymedia

Muhammad Haque examining the evidence of racists at UK Indymedia


The following [main post about ‘council housing stock transfer’] post was noticed on the UK Indymedia with the name of Mike Wells.


Mr Wells has often appeared at Khoodeelaar! demonstrations, sometimes claiming to be from the 'East London Advertiser', at other times claiming to be from nowhere in particular. Khoodeelaar! events have not been subsequently reported as linked with his activities. Except on one occasion in June 2006. But the post below which Mr Wells placed [we assume] left out any political references to any active organisation or campaign ort movement including Khoodeelaar! Without those references, the piece looks out of place. Because the reality on the ground is very different from the obviously partisan one painted in the 'Mike Wells' post on Indymedia. So, I posted a comment asking for the acknowledgement of the Khoodeelaar! movement in context. That has been distorted in the past 24 hours by the usual racists controlling the UK Indymedia. Whether there has been any active or tacit contribution by 'Mr Wells' or by any of the partisan elements his post has promoted, in that racist distortion is not yet confirmed. Bit the matter is under investigation and AADHIKAR online will be following it up in the next days or weeks and beyond.

1120 Hrs GMT
London Wednesday 15 November 2006



Quoting from the Indymedia posts

“The issue of Tower Hamlets Council’s role is far too vital to be allowed to be falsely reported by anyone. Least of by a grouplet that claims that it is the opposition.

I have been OPPOSING ALL the crooks on Tower Hamlets Council for a very long time. And the evidence of the fact, the history, the implications of that opposition is not going to be made subject to the approval of some latter day infants no matter what grand international posturing name they may parade about them.


First Mr Well’s post and then the comments. Other comments from Khoodeelaar! have been suppressed by the racists at the UK Indymedia. . Those will be published in a later post [or more] with additional factual verifications and updates.



Largely flying under the public radar is a move to transfer ownership of council estates to other social landlords. It is part of a central government agenda implemented by local government and has already led to large-scale property development much of it aimed at the private market on previously publicly owned spaces.

An example of this is in Tower Hamlets, East London, where the council has offloaded the Crossways Estate on to Swan Housing Association. The rationale behind this is that local councils are strapped for cash and are not allowed to borrow money to maintain existing housing, or to build new. They have central government’s Decent Homes Standard to reach by 2010 so in order for conditions to improve they are transferring their stock to not-for-profit housing associations.

Before stock transfer can take place residents have to be balloted and give a yes or a no to the transfer. It has become the norm at these transfer polls for the prospective new owners of the estates to launch a glitzy yes campaign: Balloons, glossy leaflets, clowns, jugglers, and an estate flooded with door-knocking paid employees in ‘yes’ t-shirts. There are also many promises made to residents. On Crossways Estate there was, amongst other promises, a “100 day promise”, which stated that … “Within the first 100 days following transfer, Swan will visit every flat to identify short term repairs needed until refurbishment” and to “start an emergency catch up repair programme”. They also promised to … “achieve a reliable lift service”.

Those and other longer-term promises won over residents, the ayes won. But since Swan’s yes victory and takeover in March 2005, conditions on the estate have deteriorated. Chris Kingsley-Smith a resident confided in me that under Tower Hamlets … “it was bad but not nearly as bad”. Residents of the three tower blocks on the estate have on-going problems with their water supply, which has often been cut off for days at a time. According to Mr Kingsley-Smith they have been without water for at least 72 days over the last year. The lifts have frequently been out of action also for days at a time, no joke in a 25-storey building.

In one of the tower blocks the Abul Hassan household is expecting a new baby. This baby is going to be born into far from ideal surroundings. Their drains are leaking, resulting in a pool of fetid, stinking liquid. The Abul Hassans told me they had continuously phoned Swan, but despite repeated assurances, their drains are still leaking. Furthermore, the duct housing the leaking drain is made of asbestos.

The Maliks live below. The Fetid water continuing its downward journey through the 25 storey building drips from their ceiling into buckets and baby baths. The Maliks have phoned Swan more than once a day in an attempt to get something done about the dripping ceiling; no one has showed up.

The exterior of the tower blocks is crumbling. Large lumps of concrete have fallen off, and drains are broken leaving ugly trails of waste. It is obvious that Swan has not fulfilled its promises.

Before Swan took over, the estate was made up of three 25 storey tower blocks and one low-rise block. After Swan obtained control of the estate it appears that rather than address the serious and immediate problems of maintenance faced by existing tenants, they put their energy into the building of a further 418 homes in between the existing buildings on land previously publicly owned and used for children’s play areas and much needed green space. The human density was already high, but these new homes will put the density up to a level that must surely be questionable.

Many of the new build dwellings on Crossways will be for sale on the open market. Swan has plans to empty all three of the existing tower blocks in order to refurbish them. Once they get vacant possession and the refurbishment is complete, all the flats in one of the blocks will be sold to private buyers. The people who live in the block destined for sale will be forced to move. Tower Hamlets has granted a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) in order to move leaseholders out. A few weeks before Christmas 2005 leaseholders were given 4 weeks to move. This is not what residents thought would happen after accepting Swan Housing as their new tenants. Instead of being able to complain to the Council, who have to obey certain standards, the residents found they had nowhere to go. This is when they started organising and appointed Nigel Laing a chartered surveyor as expert witness who specialises in Compulsory Purchase.

The leaseholders, their lawyer and expert witness pressed for a public inquiry, which they got. In his evidence for that inquiry Laing argues that the CPO lacks a necessary council resolution and hence is invalid. He also boldly states …
“The standard of behaviour of Swan (a housing association and charity) has been unacceptably aggressive… Their behaviour includes threats, including a specific physical threat (to cut off the leaseholder’s water) made in my presence and apparently carried out… On several occasions, including at the meeting on 2nd November and a meeting on 15th February the threat has been made that if agreement is not reached [for leaseholders to leave the building] that the [building] works will be carried out around the leaseholders and that their life will be made very difficult.”

It is extremely difficult to contact Swan on the phone, as many residents have found. When I did eventually make contact with Swan’s PR department I felt they were unhelpful and indeed aggressive. They refused to comment on Nigel Laing’s evidence.

One of the new blocks being developed by Swan on Crossways has been built in the wrong place contravening planning permission and in the opinion of many local residents, worryingly close to their houses. Even after the ‘error’ came to light, construction was not halted. Tower Hamlets under pressure from locals slapped an injunction on construction. It was only then that work stopped. Though Swan fought to keep the existing location of the building, planners at the council, again under pressure from residents (who picketed the construction site), caved in and have denied permission for the misplaced building. At the time of writing this incomplete building still stands.

Swan’s behaviour over the misplaced building appears entirely consistent with their overall approach. Their apparent disregard for the wellbeing of their residents contrasts with their slick corporate website which proclaims that…
“It was very rewarding to be voted Social Landlord of the Year 2005. This award recognised the work carried out in investing in stock, tenant empowerment, best value and social inclusion and also the contribution made by the association's committed workforce.”

‘Best social landlord of the year’ is not how many of the witness statements collected by Nigel Laing read. They are a depressing catalogue of indictments against Swan, lifts out of action, noise and dust nuisance from their construction work, failure to consult residents, ongoing problems with hot and cold water supply, threats, heating not working, and security problems. Security in the tower blocks has been so lax that some residents have been burgled multiple times, and anti social squatters have moved into the blocks. Chris Kingsley-Smith believes Swan have broken the conditions of his lease. He comments that they have knocked down resident’s garages with little or no consultation, and also moved walkways on the estate causing residents considerable inconvenience, again with minimal consultation. It would be an under estimate to say Swan’s reputation on the Crossways Estate is not good, nor is it good with many residents on the estates surrounding Crossways.

The feeling I got at Crossways is one of desperation. Chris Kingsley-Smith spoke to me about psychological impact of living in the conditions nurtured by Swan. He knows of a number of residents who have suffered from breakdowns and are taking medication. Rania Khan, a Respect councillor lives in a house overlooking the construction work on Crossways. She has been campaigning tirelessly on behalf of residents and has numerous horror stories to tell. She confided in me she is particularly concerned for the wellbeing of the older residents and families with young children in the tower blocks.

Stock transfers are happening all over the country. The case of Swan on the Crossways Estate should be looked at in a nationwide context. The expanding social landlord sector is under-policed and under-legislated. Notions of Best Practice are not enough to govern their behaviour. What has happened on Crossways demonstrates that there is a need for a greater level of transparency and accountability. The land that these estates occupy in our cities is of immense financial and social value. Once out of public ownership control over how this land can be used is diminished or lost altogether.

Two main factors have come together to strengthen the argument if favour of transfer. They are the Public Sector Borrowing Requirement, which prevents councils borrowing money, and the Decent Homes Standard. Both of these conditions are manufactured by central government. Together they create a Catch 22 situation, in which local government can say it has no choice other than stock transfer. Many campaigners fear that, left unchecked, this policy will be a swan song for social housing, because beneath this song lies the true melody, the real agenda, privatisation.

Mike Wells
- e-mail: mikejwells@yahoo.com

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Comments

Hide the following 4 comments
well done

13.11.2006 16:49
Great article Mike, we need more investigative reports like this on important basic issues on IUK

houseman
Include the lessons of Khoodeelaar! No to Crossrail campaign strategy

14.11.2006 04:26
©Muhammad Haque/Khoodeelaar!/CBRUK/LCAN 2006
0424 Hrs GMT
Tuesday 14 November 2006

The points made in the piece about the role played by local Council, here, Tower Hamlets Council, in letting the community down over housing, could have been made more strongly if Mr Wells had included the facts he himself has known, about the Crossrail threat to the same borough and to the same areas.

If Tower Hamlets council and central Government have been wrong on housing then they have been equally wrong to promote Crossrail hole project.

What is it that underlies the exclusion of references to the Khoodeelaar! Movement against CrossRail?

After all, it is the ONLY issue, the CrossRail Bill; that has been addressed by the Executive [Secretary of State – see ‘written statement’ dated 30 March 2006 in the name of then Transport Secretary Alistair Darling in the UK House of Commons] that was brought to the fore as a direct result of the Khoodeelaar! Campaign against the Crossrail hole plot scheme project Bill.

So why pretend that it has not happened?

The about-turn on what I have described specifically as the Crossrail DIRT hole in the Brick Lane and Whitechapel London E1 area was force don the government by the clear community threat correctly aimed at the Blaring clique on Tower Hamlets Council.

That same clique is pursing the same sort of irrational and corrupt agenda on housing as it is doing on other aspects of the Council’s ‘remits’ as the local authority.

The ONLY way that anti-social policies can be defeated in Tower Hamlets is by giving actual campaigning priority to the principle of the matter rather than looking for partisan advantages.

©Muhammad Haque 2006
mail e-mail: lawmedia@hotmail.co.uk
home Homepage: http://www.khoodeelaar.com
ignore selfish comments

14.11.2006 12:30
well done, Mike; nice article.
Please also ignore the self-centered coments of the crossrail person. it's unbelieveable that he should so self-centeredly try to plug hs campaign which always promises legal action but does nothing.
If you want to start a campaignn that shouts a lot but never achieves anything apart from hot air then yes, learn from the person who spams here a lot. by the way, person who spams here a lot, indymedia does not recognise symbols like your copyright symbol next to your name: that's the point of indymedia.

anne
what planet are you from, anne?

15.11.2006 10:40


Your comments read like you are from another planet or you are a pseudonym for one of the names featured by mike wells in his post.

Come down and see us sometimes.


MOST council housing stock has been given away.

MOST legal challenges staged in the name of RESPECT, have failed over Tower Hamlets corruption.

So, where are you getting your ignorance about Khoodeelaar! Legal actions from?

If you are on this planet then find out if Galloway remembers what he said about Khoodeelaar! Legal actions on Monday 10 April 2006.

Then apologise to Khoodeelaar! For the stupid post that you have made.


SELFISH is not a word that could be applied to Khoodeelaar!


If any outfit deserves that word then it is that one which peddles identifiable names who turn out to belong to the very same group that is doing political business with George Galloway’s name

Jackie