Yesterday morning, Lambeth Council, the National Eviction Team and dozens of cops evicted 75 people from their homes in Rushcroft Road, Brixton. After 32 years, Lambeth Council has now decided to sell off the properties to estate agent giant and notorious tax dodger Foxtons. Fuelled by anger at the increasing gentrification of Brixton alongside Lambeth councils continuous failure to provide affordable housing, squatters, residents and locals put up a strong fight against the evictions.
A very excellent eyewitness account of yesterdays events can be found here.
And a Vice magazine article with some good pic’s here.
Although the evictions did go ahead, despite the resistance, all was not lost. Those who turned up in solidarity with the residents of Rushcroft Road sent the council a very clear message – ‘We will not go without a fight’. And with every eviction resistance, those involved becomes stronger and more united. The show of solidarity on Rushcroft Road yesterday, as with many other eviction resistances, really highlights the power of community. As Izzy put it in her eyewitness account, ‘ Looking back that evening at the days events people remarked what a strong resistance it was from a smallish group. It felt like some fucking feat to have kept them (the bailiffs) off so long, to have made their job so difficult, to defend the homes as best as we could. Just imagine what we could have done with even more people.’
Expect many more resistances like Rushcroft Road over the coming months.