June 19, 2017

To be poor in London means your life is at risk

editor:	Gurmeet Singh

Everyone knows London is basically a candyland for non-resident property investors - people who buy up swathes of bricks and mortar and then leave them lying empty, waiting to sell for maximum profit, or fill them with tenants for unbelievable rents. No, really unbelievable - it's not uncommon to hear of tiny one-room (bedroom/ bathroom/ kitchen in one) rooms being rented out for 2,000 British Pounds Sterling per month. It's not a city in which to be poor - however glamorous and fun it may be - a harsh reality people have to face when they live there. And poverty, inevitably, jostles with prosperity for space and the right to live in the city.

This was made tragically material last week, when Grenfell Tower, a tower block in one of the richest boroughs in London (and therefore the world), was one of the poorest tower blocks in London - here's a thing you probably need to know about the UK, tower blocks (as opposed to say, glitzy apartment blocks) were built in the 60s and 70s as affordable social housing. The twoer block was recently renovated, but to minimise costs, the authorities responsible opted for cheap cladding - the residents complained that the cladding was flammable, but to no avail. A fire broke out, and as I write, 79 people died because, and this should not be forgotten, they were poor, and because they were poor, no one took their concerns seriously.

This is what happens when there is too much money in a society and not enough solidarity. This is what austerity leads to. There were reports of parents, desperate to get their children to safety as the flames engulfed the building from the inside and out, throwing their children out of windows (a heart-wrenching thought) - and the neighbourhood outside stood outside and watched, unable to help.

Victims of the fire and its aftermath have called on the government to help - but the response has been sluggish. Theresa May and co. did not visit victims (for fear the fire would be too closely associated with her government's austerity policies). The victims have not been given emergency housing. They have not been given substantial help that they need.

So that's it - to be poor in London means your life is at risk. So you can either join the rat race and earn until you die, or face a much worse fate. What has the UK become?