Newcastle Campaign Against Rent Increases

The building workers from the City library site, the most militant in the town stopped work to protest, but other similar acts have been slow to materialise, As Clr. Bob Hogg said at the meeting in Longbenton: "This is a man's fight; we must fight it through our trade unions, not in the hierarchy, but through the factory floor and branches; we must force the unions to do the job they were made to do, to protect the interests of the working-man, We must even get strike action, because if we don't win, it will be good-bye to any good living we have known", Unfortunately for the Council a copy of unpublished Council minutes has fallen into the hands of the Action Committee, which. clearly states that this is to be only the first phase in a series of increases. This after a period of wage freeze and with the prospects of only minimal increases is intolerable, and trade union support and action like that of the post office and building workers is vital, as the fight will probably be long and hard, The increases arise from the attempt of the Council to place the burden caused by high interest rates paid on building loans onto the backs of council tenants. Interest charges now annually amount to over £2m., over 80% of the income from rents, and have doubled since 1959. Interest rates have steadily risen, 24% in 1946, 32% in 1954, 5% in 1955, and 74% in 1966. If the trend continues, the Council will eventually have to cease all council house building to prevent the debt and interest charges rising to such a height that the scale of rents will be such that no one will be able to afford them. The solution is for the Government to face the problem seriously and firmly oppose those financial interests that profit from the present system. Perhaps more despicable is the proposed rent rebate scheme. The local labour movement has recognised this as the return to a pernicious means test (with or without Ray Gunter's recommendations as to its acceptabjlity) and its whole weight must be thrown against such a return to 1930's paternalism even if it comes from a Labour Government. No-one is opposing benefits to the less fortunate members of the community, but they are opposed to a council simply declaring that those council tenants earning above an arbitrarily arrived at income should support those below it. As a Fairways leaflet states: "This way the vast majority of council house tenants are paying twice for social security; once when the boss takes your social security payments out of your pay each week, and twice when the wife pays the rent". Who says a fair rent is /6 of your income? Does this also apply to our business-men councillors for their rates? How do we know the £300,000 they say they will pay out in rebates is an accurate assessment and not just a bluff to sell a means test as social Justice? These are the questions that are being raised and the challenges being made to Newcastle City Council, It is important that council house tenants elsewhere in the country be aware that such shallow arguments are not used to sell them similar rent rebate schemes, and should investigate more closely the nature of a 'deficit' that is used as an excuse for rent increases, There is a lesson too for socialists in what has happened here in Newcastle, The Tories.were returned in Newcastle for two main reasons: Disillusionment with Labour locally as it had long ceased to be radically different in its approach to local government; and disillusionment with a Labour Government that had followed all the old Tory priorities in the main aspects of its policies, Rather than satisfy conservative forces the result was that these just moved further rightwards and came up with ideas they had never dared suggest before, If this is a foretaste of what is to come with the next Tory Government, at least our experience has cast a grave warning for the coming