‘We’ll be honest. These are big roles. Budgets are down. And we’re aiming high.’ So starts Southwark Labour Council’s recent job advert. By aiming high, they mean paying a lot; £96,909 – £122,310 per year plus benefits. And the big role? ‘Director of Modernise’. The council were immediately criticised for the ridiculous job-title, likened to the spoof job ‘Director of Better’ from recent BBC comedy W1A. Except there is nothing funny about it. And they certainly aren’t being honest.
It’s one of three highly-paid directorships, all aimed at trying to make social cleansing and council cuts palatable by dressing it up as regeneration and modernisation.
Their slick job advert claims ‘we don’t just work for the community, we work with them’. In reality, social cleansing is well underway; any communities left are being forced out. The area’s Heygate estate has been demolished. The council’s role is criminal; the land was sold at just £50 million to private company Lend Lease, despite being valued at £150 million. The council paid a further £65 million to ‘decant’ the residents. It is destroying more council housing as it gets to work on the Aylesbury estate. There is a rush to construct private housing that no-one can afford. The job-advert ends with the line ‘Unleash the Spirit of Southwark’. Not letting the new post-holders forget about the Heygate, Aylesbury, exploitative private landlords and cuts will be in the right spirit.
Rachel Francis
