'today was a sad end for our horsemouth' (rent rises debated)

'more cryptic even than usual...' remarked a friend. 'are you giving up the blogosphere?'

there's a series of AI ads featuring celebrities where they seem to endorse some cryptocurrency/ foreign exchange trading scheme and so lose their jobs in tv. horsemouth is just parking this here to use it for a blog title. 

so yes the blogs will continue.

john sinclair former manager of the mc5, poet and revolutionary has died. a doer and a thinker, a mover and a shaker. 

'tenants and residents in social housing are suffering just as those in the private rented sector. last year, the vast majority of housing associations utilised the maximum scope allowed by government and increased their rents by 7%. these inflated rents will rise again this year by 7.7%...'

- suzanne muna, secretary, the social housing action campaign, letters guardian, 31st march 2024. 

horsemouth would take exception to the characterisation of these rents as 'inflated' - the rent rises are where they need to be given the current structures of the housing associations etc. and the tasks they face, it is just, in that classical brechtian reverse, that the poor cannot afford to pay them.   

'four million children living in poverty, mostly in private rental properties, does not move MPs.' - that's exactly right (though horsemouth is not suggesting there is any secret reason for this) and; 

'even the labour party, which once would have been seen as the renters’ party, is largely indifferent to their plight, as demonstrated by (sir) keir starmer’s opposition to sadiq khan’s proposed rent controls.' - that's exactly right too. (both derrick joad, leeds, guardian letters, same day). 

horsemouth is a little nonplussed as to why some fucker in leeds is studying sadiq khan's policies - there are few examples of movements to the left of labour, but maybe more are coming. 

the management committee of the communal endeavour are recommending a 6% rent rise to the members - the members are free to vote to refuse it if they wish (however should for each 1% of the rent rise they refuse that's £6k off the surplus, off the co-op's ability to do what needs to be done for the members).