East London Regeneration versus Young Single Mothers (Newham Council)

Alright, this article  is about a group of young single mothers or mothers-to-be staging a protest in Newham Council.  Why?  They had been evicted by the council from their social housing and they have been told to move to Hastings.

Cruel or Kind? 
Sounds cruel?  Yeah, they definitely think so.  They insist that they have the right to stay in London and somebody must give them this right.  They want their children to grow up in London.  They are accusing the local authority of social cleansing.

Objection!  Keep us in London!

Mayor of Newham Told Them to Go
According to the article, the Mayor of Newham, Sir Robin Wales, has met the mothers and told them that Newham has no space for them.  The Mayor explained to them that they just couldn't afford to live in London.  There were 24,000 people on the waiting list for social housing in Newham and the Mayor's priority was ex-servicemen and women, followed by people in work and full-time carers.

Late in 2012, the mayor announced “pioneering plans” to ensure these people received their housing as a matter of relative urgency, explaining that he was seeking to reward "those who contribute to society".

Social Cleansing
Of course these young single mothers are up in arms.  They believe they have equal, if not more rights, to stay in London.  They refuse to accept that Newham has no space for them.  They accuse the Borough of social cleansing.

We just want to stay in Lon-doon 

“It's all about the money, money, money, we don't care about the money, money, money – we just want to stay in Loooon-don, we just want to stay in Loooon-don.”

A Singaporean View  
From a pragmatic perspective, it is hard to sympathize with these young mothers.  Already, the UK welfare system is very generous.  They have access to housing and get very generous benefits, all funded by the UK taxpayer.

I am assuming that all of them do not even work, otherwise they would have qualified for different forms of help and social housing.  They are being fed by the State, yet think that they have the right to demand choice locations to stay in.

It is quite astonishing how the UK has let the society evolved to this state.  Could it have something to do with the fact that Labour was in control for so many years?

Personally, I'm glad that Sir Robin Wales is taking a very pragmatic approach to this problem.

Happy Investing!