Smoke and Mirrors

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An awesome social justice documentary.

Council tenants in Edinburgh were offered lower rents and new kitchens and bathrooms if they would vote 'yes' to transfer the ownership of council homes from the council to a private landlord (CEHA). The council spent over 5 Million pounds developing the plans and on extravagant publicity. They did not put the case against stock transfer because 'there was no case against it'. It was billed as a win for everyone.

Week by week promotional glossy leaflets and DVDs (made for widescreen viewing) were posted through tenant's letter boxes. Council workers were forced to go door to door to promote the transfer to tenants. Tenants were told if they voted yes to transfer millions of pounds worth of debt would be written off and 2 billion pounds would be released to build new homes and improve existing ones.

Tenants were left to try to work out what was going on. It turned out the council was going to sell homes for an average price of 900 pounds each; though many would be worth over 100,000 on the open market. 1.2 billion of the additional money would be a new debt to private banks lent at commercial rather than a government rate. The board of the new housing association would be controlled by the banks and the previous council workers.

With a budget of 5000 pounds a few camcorders and photocopiers a group called E.A.S.T set out to undo the council’s 5 million pound propaganda effort before the day of the ballot. The council predicted they would win with 80% of the vote. You will have to watch to find out what happened.

Social housing has never been more important. In the UK home ownership in many areas is no longer possible on the salaries of nurses and teachers. Students now have to pay their own way through University so many graduate with tens of thousands worth of debt. These homes are a national resource for those who might end up needing them. Is it time to invest in social housing rather than privatise it?

For more information visit:

http://www.defendcouncilhousing.org.uk

This video was made by Pilton Video, much of it was filmed and edited by local people who were having there first experience in video production. The director was Neil Gray.

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Channels: Documentaries , Social Media

Tags: scotland justice uk transfer protest funny council activists stock edinburgh social glasgow documentary east homes

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smoke and mirrors.mkv

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