Residents of two council blocks in east London’s Waltham Forest, Fred Wigg and John Walsh towers which are under threat of regeneration are fighting to save their homes. Despite tenants voting overwhelmingly at the end of last year simply for the refurbishment of existing flats, Waltham Forest Labour council has forced through plans to build new flats and redevelop one block exclusively for private sale, leaving tenants uncertain about their fate. What is clear is that the promised ‘moderate’ rents will in practice be unaffordable; secure council tenancies will disappear and 260 social rented council flats will go.
The RCG has been campaigning alongside residents who are standing up to defend council homes, saying no to the decanting of the working class out of the borough – and the breaking up of their community. Many of the residents now have nothing but contempt for the local Labour council. As one member of the FJT Residents Action Group put it, ‘Why should anyone vote for Labour? They’re not for the working class. These homes were built by the working class, paid for by the working class – and now are only to be given to the upper class.’
Hannah Caller
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 244 April/May 2015
