11 April 2005
Not just any old John, Dick or Harry!
It so nice to read Lindsey's Blog. I spent three years living in Upton Park and Stratford and know the area very well. I could not think of a better person to represent such a wonderful community. West Ham needs RESPECT!
I remember Interviewing a guy called John for a film we were making about homelessness. He was looking across the river to the millennium dome, Tony Blair had just been elected as prime minister, John had lost his job and his house and had throat cancer, he was struggling to speak but said "first John Major wanted to build the dome and now John Blair is going to finish it, you could house all of us in there but he's not going to". I had hopes for the Labour government but was not stupid, neither was John. He did not think he had long to live and I just wonder how many others have suffered because Blair has not done what the people asked him to.
Here in Cambridge homelessness is a massive issue. Rough sleepers and those in hostels are at the sharp end of both the Liberal Democrat council's and the Labour MP's championing of Anti Social Behavior Orders. They are constantly bragging about what a good job they are doing "cleaning up our streets". These people find it so easy to dismiss the homeless without any thought or understanding of the bigger picture. One councilor, in a meeting on ASBO's that we attended recently, said "these people can not function in a complex society". I joked after that 'this society did not function for complex people' but it is not a laughing matter. It is estimated that one in four homeless people in the UK have seen military service and there are between a 250,000 and half a million homeless veterans in the US. How many Gulf war II veterans will be forgotten about when they return this time! These long term problems are not thought about by the like of Blair when he gives just 40 minutes of debating time in the house in order to send British troops to Iraq and even then he does not have the decency to listen to the whole discussion.
The campaigning is going well, we are getting an excellent response on the door step. I visited some retirement bungalows yesterday, they were set back from the road. The problem was there was no proper path to get across the 20 meters of rough grass to the street. One woman opened the door and we both had a laugh because she did not have her teeth in and she could not talk properly. She had sellotaped her letter box up. When I asked her how she got the post, she said that she only did it on Sundays because the kids put things through her doors. I told her that I knew some of are activists were young! She was not angry and just chuckled that they had nothing else to do at the weekend. So many people are so very tolerant even though the government makes living pretty challanging, but you would not think it the way the spin doctors are putting things across. Last year the council tenants in Cambridge voted by 80% not to privatize or go for ALMO. Even though the ballot paper was phrased like a bribe, with a host of improvements that would be made possible if they sold out. Most people have still got high principle even though they just get them thrown back in their faces.
Needless to say there is not a lot of support for politicians, particularly Labour ones, quite a few people took RESPECT posters but like Lindsey it is so apparent that the biggest task is getting people to vote at all.
I remember Interviewing a guy called John for a film we were making about homelessness. He was looking across the river to the millennium dome, Tony Blair had just been elected as prime minister, John had lost his job and his house and had throat cancer, he was struggling to speak but said "first John Major wanted to build the dome and now John Blair is going to finish it, you could house all of us in there but he's not going to". I had hopes for the Labour government but was not stupid, neither was John. He did not think he had long to live and I just wonder how many others have suffered because Blair has not done what the people asked him to.
Here in Cambridge homelessness is a massive issue. Rough sleepers and those in hostels are at the sharp end of both the Liberal Democrat council's and the Labour MP's championing of Anti Social Behavior Orders. They are constantly bragging about what a good job they are doing "cleaning up our streets". These people find it so easy to dismiss the homeless without any thought or understanding of the bigger picture. One councilor, in a meeting on ASBO's that we attended recently, said "these people can not function in a complex society". I joked after that 'this society did not function for complex people' but it is not a laughing matter. It is estimated that one in four homeless people in the UK have seen military service and there are between a 250,000 and half a million homeless veterans in the US. How many Gulf war II veterans will be forgotten about when they return this time! These long term problems are not thought about by the like of Blair when he gives just 40 minutes of debating time in the house in order to send British troops to Iraq and even then he does not have the decency to listen to the whole discussion.
The campaigning is going well, we are getting an excellent response on the door step. I visited some retirement bungalows yesterday, they were set back from the road. The problem was there was no proper path to get across the 20 meters of rough grass to the street. One woman opened the door and we both had a laugh because she did not have her teeth in and she could not talk properly. She had sellotaped her letter box up. When I asked her how she got the post, she said that she only did it on Sundays because the kids put things through her doors. I told her that I knew some of are activists were young! She was not angry and just chuckled that they had nothing else to do at the weekend. So many people are so very tolerant even though the government makes living pretty challanging, but you would not think it the way the spin doctors are putting things across. Last year the council tenants in Cambridge voted by 80% not to privatize or go for ALMO. Even though the ballot paper was phrased like a bribe, with a host of improvements that would be made possible if they sold out. Most people have still got high principle even though they just get them thrown back in their faces.
Needless to say there is not a lot of support for politicians, particularly Labour ones, quite a few people took RESPECT posters but like Lindsey it is so apparent that the biggest task is getting people to vote at all.
