Letter to tribune 16.7.11
To the Tribune
I really must thank Richard Schunemann and Jessie White for presenting me with the ideal opportunity to address Islington’s residents on the subject of Homes for Islington (HFI) (…“Remember the long wait”… 15thJuly).
Mr. Schunemann’s lyrical, but delusional, attempt to draw readers into a pointless comparison between past and present regimes brings to mind the classical sleight of hand perpetuated on another unsuspecting populous during the historic siege of Troy, now famous for providing us with the infamous term “a Trojan Horse”…HFI might, if taken at face value, initially appear extremely benevolent, however, tenants beware, once it achieves its intended goal.
Mr. Schunemann noticeably fails to address the government’s latest white paper proposals, which paraphrased, states …“ministers will explore ‘whether semi-autonomous public sector bodies should now be made fully autonomous, for example, by moving arm’s-length management organisations (ALMO’s) in social housing, into the housing association sector”…
Furthermore, he appears to be totally unaware that we already have accountability, through the ballot box, which unfortunately, is not possible while a private company such as HFI controls our homes!
Mrs. White’s absurd assertions that anyone who opposes HFI is…“out of touch”…and that HFI is …“resident led”…is simply nonsense. Perhaps Mrs. White would like to provide us with a list of residents/leaseholders meetings which she has personally attended during the last five years, in order to ascertain their opinion on HFI’s policy issues? Or provide us with the overall number of residents in attendance during the same period of time at HFI’s main board meetings?
She also, although stating that chairs and vice chairs get a “special responsibility allowance”, conveniently fails to mention that this amounts to over £15,000, for what is supposed to be voluntary positions!
In conclusion…isn’t it strange that directors suddenly rush to defend HFI when resident-led initiatives, such as, for example, the www.disbandHFI.org.uk petition, threatens their expected lucrative future?
Dr. B. S. Potter (LL.b)
Chairman FITA/ILA