It's a question of perception

Perched on a stool in my parents' kitchen at the weekend I was gobbling up a copy of the Sunday Times. Amongst the many stories there was news that "Some families have been paid almost £200,000 each in housing benefit to live in some of the country's most expensive areas."

Oxford was mentioned, as was Westminster, as was Camden, my borough.

The article implied these families were parasites, feeding off the taxpayer.

Now if I didn't know better I'd have leaned back in indignation, but of course, being on a stool, I would have fallen off it.

However, I have been banging on about this since January (to you, not to others) and do know something (woo hoo, to be skint and dim!)

The article didn't mention AT ALL the Government policy forcing these families into the private sector. Didn't mention AT ALL the council flat sell offs denying many many families an affordable secure tenancy. No mention AT ALL of all the empty properties up and down the country.

It's so easy to blame families, so easy. Sure, some exploit the system but the majority don't. I'm thinking here of Hannah, Tim and their four children, soon to be evicted from their temporary accommodation. Like me they are against the Private Rental Scam and so, Hannah told me the other week, are probably going to go back into a hostel when the lease expires.

"Oh you're not," I'd said to Hannah at the time.
"We don't feel like we've got any choice," she'd replied. "They said they'll try and put us an annex again." (At a cost of £400 a week!)

"Susie Squire," the Sunday Times quoted, "campaign manager at the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "These figures are staggering and show an alarming amount of taxpayers' money is being haemorrhaged year after year."".

"Stigmum," the paper didn't quote, "parasitic member of our society, said: "I've been talking about this for ages. The answer is to build more social housing, refurbish empty properties, not auction them all off."

(So soon, so soon, the MP's second homes scandal has been forgotten.)