"Test of Opinion": Deadline Extended: But Still No Real Choice

Hackney Housing Boss Jamie Carswell, (or as New Labour put it: Cabinet Member for Housing), wrote to all Hackney Tenants on the 24th of November to remind them about the Council’s “test of opinion” on whether we would like our homes privatised or left to rot.

He revealed that the deadline for responses had been pushed back to the 3rd of December (and we now hear it’s moved back even further to the 10th of December). Apparently some residents received their papers late, which shows the “test” is well up to the Council’s usual levels of efficiency.

But might there be other reasons?

Is it possible that the Council simply haven’t had enough responses to be able to justify the expense of writing to us all – twice over?

Or have they just not received the “right” kind of responses to what was already a completely loaded set of questions?

Certainly, the letter is at pains to mention “certain leaflets” which have been produced by Hackney Residents and indeed by Hackney Independent which show up the “consultation” for the charade it is.

But Big Jamie seems so single-minded in his pursuit of selling off our homes, that he’s even prepared to go against resolutions made at his own Party Conference. New Labour voted 8 to 1 recently for a “level playing field” for Council Housing – and Unions, Residents groups and other campaigners are all clear that the answer is direct investment in our homes and estates.

Jamie, on the other hand, insists that we don’t have the “luxury of time to debate options which aren’t on the table” – we must hurry towards a bright future of privatised housing… or else…