Haldane Opposes Riot-Related Evictions

The Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers opposes any attempt to evict tenants for the actions of members of their family, especially when those actions do not impact on their neighbours' lives.

We protest at threats by Wandsworth Council to start eviction proceedings against a council tenant on the apparent basis that a member of her family might have been involved in some of the rioting committed in the second week of August 2011. We believe that subjecting a family to eviction constitutes collective punishment of the whole family for the alleged actions of one individual. If the individual has committed a crime, he or she should be subject to the usual penalties through the criminal justice system. His or her family should not be made homeless.
We will be responding to the government's consultation on extending social landlords' powers to seek possession for criminality and anti-social behaviour and expressing our opposition to those proposals. We call upon social landlords not to penalise their tenants for the actions of those who live with them.