WRITING in the ‘Housing Question’ in 1872, Frederick Engels declared that the bourgeoisie was incapable of solving the housing question.
He wrote: ‘As long as the capitalist mode of production continues to exist it is folly to hope for an isolated settlement of the housing question or of any other social question affecting the lot of the workers.
‘The solution lies in the abolition of the capitalist mode of production and the appropriation of all of the means of subsistence and instruments of labour by the working class itself.’
Otherwise he warned: ‘The same economic necessity that produced them in the first place produced them in the second place also.’
Over a hundred years later many thought that Engels observation was strictly historical, and that the mass building of millions of council homes, after the working class put an end to the Churchill wartime regime in 1945, and elected a reformist socialist Labour Government led by Attlee and Bevan, had created a new world where homelessness was part of history, along with racketeer landlords.
However, the ‘economic necessity’ of capitalism raised its head in 1979 when council housing came under full scale attack. This was when Thatcher moved to sell off the council housing stock, a policy that was at first resisted but then embraced by many Labour councils.
The onslaught on council housing, which led to Labour councils competing with the Tories to sell them off, led directly to today’s crisis.
Today the economic necessity of capitalism, now in a desperate crisis, requires that the working class be driven out of London, especially its central districts, by a combination of huge rent rises, cuts in housing benefit, bedroom taxes and major estate demolitions, so that luxury housing can be built for sale to Gulf feudalists and Russian billionaire oligarchs.
A real cleansing of the working class out of the central areas is now underway. The housing offensive includes the ‘charities’ who are demolishing estates and building luxury accommodation, advertised starting at £450,000 for a two room flat!
All over London tens of thousands of tenants have suddenly been flung into battles with landlords and financial groups who insist on driving rents up sky high and on the demolition of entire estates that are in prime condition.
Tenants however are fighting back! In the New Era estate in Shoreditch, residents were faced with the Westbrooke company trying to hike rents up by 300% while threatening mass evictions.
A defiant resistance has forced the bosses back for the moment. Workers in West Hendon told News Line: ‘West Hendon is a lesson in what you do when the bulldozers are coming at you. You unite and organise. Nobody gave us council housing, it had to be fought for.
‘We have to build a movement, not just at West Hendon but across London. We have to stop them demolishing council housing and have more built on public land. We will fight every eviction, every demolition, but we need to build a movement across London.’
Jasmin Stone from Focus E15 mums, says about their struggle: ‘We’ve been fighting for people for social housing for all. They’ve been moving people out of London. We have to stand together and keep fighting for social housing.’
Tenants must form Councils of Action to unite tenants, workers, youth and the trade unions to fight rent rises, and stop evictions with strikes and mass occupations.
These bodies must also battle to keep open the hospitals and stop their A&E’s and maternity units closing, since you can’t live properly in an area with no proper NHS facilities.
Councils of Action must unite workers, youth and trade unions all over the capital and in every town and city where housing is being demolished and the NHS closed. Councils of Action must take control of their areas and keep speculators and other gangsters out. They must also demand that the unions call a general strike to bring in a workers government.
Engels was right. As long as capitalism lasts its economic necessities will see it crushing workers. Capitalism should have been put an end to in 1945. We must make sure that we do the job in 2015!
