if you voted for the Tories, you should feel personally responsible when you see homeless people on the streets ...

[aufaniae]

...once their policies start to bite.

They want to removing housing benefit for under 25s, many of whom have children. Just one of their policies which will drive people into homelessness.

I thought this was meant to be a civilised country. If the safety net is removed, many people including children will fall through it, some of them ending up on the streets.

How can anyone support that?

Where do you live new if you don't mind me asking it's jus that I pay 1100 for 3 bed in london so you seem t
I bed getting ripped off in mho

Fairyjen prices vary widely across London and you should know that. My bit of London is a deprived area (when I bought my flat I was exempt from stamp duty as it was officially classed as deprived).

A one bed near me is £1100.

Zone three, west London.

It's a nice area, which I appreciate. Am enjoying it before I go to a horrid area which we will have to if we want children.

Not really new we live in a lovely area, lots families, parks and brilliant schools and pay same, dunno what zone we are, only lived here bout 6 weeks so still finding way around

I live in zone 3 and that's almost as much as our mortgage on a 3-bed house

It's not a particularly 'nice' area, admittedly, but I guess we all make different choices in life and have different priorities.

Blimey London sounds very over-priced, i thought where i live was bad, but £1100 for a one bed flat .
Where does that leave a mw londoner?

pumpkinsweetie it's not a posh area either. It's traditionally working class area, very mixed class-wise these days, which on the surface can hide that there's quite a lot of deprivation (gun crime, crack dealers on the streets, that kind of thing).

It makes me want to bang my head on a brick wall when every time they talk abotu the benefits cap they use the examples of people wanting to live in posh areas (e.g. Chelsea). Rents are extortionate throughout most of central London, even some of the pretty crappy bits.

I can appreciate rents are extorionate throughout most of London. But nothing is being done about it.

More affordable housing needs to be built everywhere

"More affordable housing needs to be built everywhere "

Agreed! But the Tories have recently taken away the requirement for developers to include some afforable units in new developments.

This government represents wealthy landowners not the people. It really is going back to traditional class divisions. I thought we'd moved on from that but apparently not, we're going straight back there as far as I can see.

Agreed aufanie- The class divide is become rich vs poor, instead of it once being low, working class, middle class & higher class, all helped out in times of need. All in apart from higher class we will all suffer shortly

pumpkin What upsets me about this covering our beautiful countryside with new housing is the ignoring of the empty houses ; there are many standing waiting to be torn down when they could all be renovated properly thus giving work and housing and helping the ignored environment.

It's telling also that they've just made squatting residential homes illegal (squatting commercial property is still possible). They know full well that many people will be made homeless as a result of their policies.

No one's going to be made homeless by the welfare cap. Some people in London might have to move out as far as zone 4 or 5.

Just like those unsupported by the state have to.

yes that's grim auf often the squatters actually raise the value of the buildings they're in. I remember thinking that the Lib dems would temper the worst of Tory policies bu they don't seem to be able to or the motivation to.

MrsBethel many people - including families - are going to be made homeless by cutting benefits completely for under 25s, and the sanctions which will be meted out against people under UC.

Also disabled people who "pass" ATOS's eligibility for work assessment but are not in fact capable of getting a job.

Homelessness will rise massively, it has already started to do so. To pretend otherwise is very naive indeed.

Homelessness has already risen due to housing benefit cuts.

Been following this thread - am riveted.
As a bit of an economic moron, I haven't really had anything worthwhile to contribute.

However, just been listening to the radio news about courts planning to stay open later to deal with various offences more swiftly. Some courts sat in the evenings after last August's riots and it seems that this worked v well.

I'm wondering if someone, somewhere is expecting similar or worse levels of social unrest.

I also think the squatting law comment is spot on.

"I'm wondering if someone, somewhere is expecting similar or worse levels of social unrest."

I expect so.

My SIL is a Police Officer. At the last general election she told me many of her fellow officers prefered it when the Tories were in as they got more overtime because of the increase in social unrest under them. Not because they agreed with their policies necessarily, but because they'd benefit as individuals as they'd make money out of policing the riots.

I was

It turns out that even the police have been screwed by this government though haven't they.

It looks like drive-thru justice!

Indeed

I'm the most sanguine person alive, but even I'm starting to imagine internment camps and workhouses now.
I felt a visceral lurch at DomesticGodless' comment about "this nasty little country and the small minds it has bred".

It really is a nasty little country with millions of thoroughly decent people trapped in it. I'm torn between wanting to exit asap and staying to offer compassion and help - but I don't know what I can realistically do.

Please please please don't think that. Comments like that make me sad. Remember how great we all felt during the Olympics and Paralympics? We're still the same country.

We are a great country with a nasty little government, though on the scale of things it could be a nastier government. Syria's springs to mind.

Nasty goverment indeed!
I just hope that these families inline for homelessness will lot lose their children