Tuesday 13 September 2011

A Creative Response to the UK Government's Proposed Criminalisation of "Squatting" . . .

A Creative Response to the UK Government's Proposed Criminalisation of "Squatting" . . .

The obvious bias in the consultation shows a predjudice that Squatters are (already)

criminal in that their point of view is not asked for, in fact it is actively discouraged by the

loaded nature of the questions - this makes the whole consultation unbalanced, hence it is

inequitable, and therefore without doubt unlawful and invalid.



The very word "Squatting" has extreemely predjudicial connotations; and in fairness it

ought to be relegated to the dustbin of civilised society, in the same way that words such

as Nigger, Wog, and Chink already have been.



A new name needs to be chosen to describe lawful occupation of otherwise empty,

abandonned, and/or disused properties. 



In the particular case of eco-activists occupying a property for the purposes of eco-activism

(including accommodation for eco-activists), the word "Requisition" springs readily to mind

 - particularly bearing in mind that the threat of environmental damage and destruction is

commonly agreed to be every bit as serious as a threat of World War.



An entirely new consultation must be initiated, which seeks to obtain balanced information,

 including facts about the many benefits of Squatting otherwise disused and empty

properties.


Such benefits may include, but are certainly not limited to:

-fostering self reliance and a healthy "outside the box" mentality.
-development of arts and craft skills.
-furthering social skills.
-providing self-funded/resourced housing and further education; in particular to socially excluded younger people, at little or no cost to the local council or government.
-renovation and care of properties in many cases.
-formation of housing associations - partnerships with local councils.
-eco-activism - eg Ploughhares, Trident, Transport Policies (RTS), GMO's banned in Europe, etc
-SOCIAL CENTRES.

NURTURING NVDA ON IMPORTANT ISSUES:-

Organiations, many of whose members would say that Squatting has nurtured their activism include, but are not limited to:
CND
GreenPeace
Green Party
FoE
Groundswell
Monetary Reform

The fact that the present "consultation" is clearly designed to lead respondants in a

negative train of thought with regard to squatting, while almost entirely disregarding the possibility of 


lawful occupation of disused properties for positive and genuinely socially beneficiant purposes,

can only lead the reasonable person to the conclusion that the present consultation be

entirely set aside
, and a new equitably balanced one be inaugrated prior to any proposed

legislation being enacted, lest any such legislation be later found by the Courts to be

unlawful, thereby further undermining the demonstrably already tenuous respect

bestowed upon our government by the youth of today.

1 comment:

TheRSVPNetwork said...

How about the word (it's new I made it just now) meritoccupy/ied. ;)


When there's a will, there's a way.