ople in it, so long as they are married or of • same sex. Children under ten count as half I those under a year are not counted at all. us even if a family had quads in one room, til they reach their first birthday there is no ercrowding, as they do not officially exist.
Again in this situation the police give no help. An example of this was given in a letter to the Evening Standard of 19th Feb. 1971. This read: "One mother I visited had all her possessions, including every item of clothing and bedding, removed by the landlord so that she had no change of clothes for the children nor any bedding. Not only had the landlord taken the tenant's refrigerator, but he had left all the food in it, so when she would eventually get it back it would be stinking and crawling. Why had he done this? Because after paying him the exorbitant rent of £9 per week for two rooms, the tenant had had the temerity of applying to the rent officer for a fixed rent. The tenant went to the police and accused the landlord of theft as well as harrassment, but they refused to take any action, saying that no theft was involved, as the landlord had taken the tenant's possessions only temporarily-promising to return them when they moved away."
It is a superb indictment of a period when there had been no less than twelve years of Labour government that the following type of conditions could still be described:
"Home was one fairly large room, with a double bed and two cots touching it which took up half the floor space. In a kitchen area there was a plastic bowl for a sink. All the water had to be carried in buckets up two flights of stairs, there to be heated on the gas stove. The one lavatory and bathroom were shared by 18 persons. Two easy chairs took up the rest of the room. Every available inch was festooned with laundry, as both children were still in nappies. Her husband, a builder's labourer, brought home about £15 a week, and the rent of this one room was £3.10. Yet because the room was dry and reasonably large, and sun came in in the morning, she was immensely proud of her husband's efforts which had HE WAR An IMG Publication Price: 5p