Author: Simon Elmer

Jeremy Corbyn and the Haringey Development Vehicle

Across the country, Labour councils are putting Labour values into action in a way that makes a real difference to millions of people. It is a proud Labour record, and each and every Labour councillor deserves our heartfelt thanks for the work they do. – Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party conference (28 September, 2016) In the … Continue reading Jeremy Corbyn and the Haringey Development Vehicle

Oh, Jeremy Corbyn! The People’s Assembly

https://youtu.be/eA-iHySbEiA Tories Out! Did I hear right, or was I making it up? As I stood outside the pub having a fag, the crowd shuffled past, branded like an Olympic team with flags and banners and placards bearing the logos of every Labour-affiliated union and other left-wing group, including several I thought no longer existed. … Continue reading Oh, Jeremy Corbyn! The People’s Assembly

Explaining a Few Things

You will ask: and where are the lilacs? And the world-changing new politics? And the dreams unceasingly speaking words, embellishing them with flowers and birds? I’ll tell you everything that happened. I lived in a neighbourhood, a neighbourhood of London, with council estates, and tower blocks and trees. From there you could look out across … Continue reading Explaining a Few Things

Excalibur: Open Garden Estates 2017

Between 1946 and 1948, in response to the loss of housing during the Blitz and the return of demobilised servicemen and women, 156,623 pre-fabricated homes were built across the UK. Excalibur estate in Catford, comprised of 178 bungalow homes, is one of these. Located in what is now Lewisham, the borough had suffered some of … Continue reading Excalibur: Open Garden Estates 2017

Sustainable Estates: ASH Presentation at the Centre for Alternative Technology (Part 2)

Part 2 of ASH’s presentation at the conference on Housing Justice, held at the Centre for Alternative Technology as part of the Small is Beautiful festival in Machynlleth, Wales, 8-11 June, 2017. ‘Economics’, meaning the management of a community’s resources, including those of the household, and ‘ecology’, the study of the relationships between organisms and … Continue reading Sustainable Estates: ASH Presentation at the Centre for Alternative Technology (Part 2)

Clusterfuck! Labour’s Shameless Council Estate Rip-off

A version of this article by long-time ASH member Lolly Oii was first published in the new release of Class War, the most dangerous tabloid in Britain and the only paper that speaks to the working class about working-class struggle. We liked it so much we asked the author if we could publish it on … Continue reading Clusterfuck! Labour’s Shameless Council Estate Rip-off

10 Myths about London’s Housing Crisis

This text was commissioned from ASH by the Guardian’s Housing Network, which subsequently refused to publish it. This is the second time an ASH piece has been commissioned and refused by the Guardian, which since Katharine Viner took over as editor in March 2015 has moved further and further to the political right, and whose … Continue reading 10 Myths about London’s Housing Crisis

Secure Homes for All? The Labour Party Manifesto on Housing

Well, it’s brief, and says nothing that hasn’t been said before; so let’s get the housing component of the Labour Party Manifesto – published today under the title For the Many Not the Few – out of the way. Titled ‘Secure Homes for All’, its focus is on house building, rightly identifying the housing crisis as one of affordability, but … Continue reading Secure Homes for All? The Labour Party Manifesto on Housing