People before Profit . Housing crises. Direct action. Press release.Press call for Monday morning 17 February.

 MONDAY a direct action taking place this weekend, the like no one has seen before.

Lewisham: Britain’s bolshie-ist borough

Camden has a reputation for being the trendiest borough in the country. Kensington and Chelsea is certainly the most expensive borough.

Lewisham is different. People in Lewisham don’t sit around complaining while monday?

Britain has an appalling housing problem. The situation in London is especially acute. Overcrowding, extortionate rents and homelessness go hand in hand with landlords’ empty properties What’s going to happen about the housing problem on M

Where’s and ‘land banks’ of undeveloped sites.

This housing problem is a bit like the British weather: everybody complains about it but nobody does anything about it. Until now that is….

 they sip skinny lattes: they act. For example mass demonstrations to defend the NHS (police estimates of  10,000 in November 2012 and over 20,000 January 2013).https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnhBK6lMYUM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LNBP95A3rM

Who’s going to make it happen on Monday?

People Before Profit. It’s no accident that Lewisham has its own political party.

It’s a party that’s hard to pigeon hole but there’s no doubting its record of audacious and, unusual for a campaigning group, successful actions. For example, when, in 2012, Lewisham Council put five council houses up for auction, PBP didn’t just protest occupied houses and swatted them for a year until we ashamed the Council into reversing its policy. http://transpont.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/lewisham-houses-occupied.html

We don’t just protest about poverty, some of members have set up a food bank.

Unlike some local campaign groups we aren’t NIMBYs who confine themselves to the local issues. We don’t just want to save our hospital: we want to save the NHS. We don’t just want to have the PFI debts of our hospital written off: all we PFI deals cancelled.

Unlike the Occupy movement we have a coherent alternative economic and social programme. This is not a utopian dream: it is based on serious economic analysis. http://peoplebeforeprofit.org.uk/

Why should you come?

You will kick yourself if you don’t. Curtsey of People Before Profit, the local press have been getting excellent stories year after year, but being ‘Souf o' the River’ Lewisham is virgin territory for the national media. This will be a good story by any standards. So good, in fact, we can’t give you the details in advance. Once you get over the psychological barrier of crossing the River you’ll find that Lewisham is not hard to get to.

Okay, I give in. Exactly where and when?

Date: 17^th February             Time: 10am;             Place: Harts Lane Studio, 17 Harts Lane SE14 5UP.

Nearest overground station: NEW CROSS GATE (200 yrds)  

Lewisham: surprising journalists since 1381

Contacts: George. Hallam 07972223353; John Hamilton 07986998172 follow Ray on twitter@Raywoolford. www.peoplebeforeprofit.org.uk