In the United States, calls for better social services, public programs, and other state-led interventions are reliably met with cries of impracticality. Ideas from the left are regularly derided in hyperbolic terms; some classics include the charge that the left wishes to give away the equivalent of "free ponies" (that one comes via Hillary Clinton), or are otherwise pie-in-the-sky utopians living in a "magical fantasy land," promising " unicorns " and the like.
Havering Council has uncovered and prevented multiple cases of housing fraud during the 2024/2025 financial year involving individuals unlawfully occupying council-owned homes, including one case where a tenant attempted to buy a property they were renting out while owning another home in the UK.
The funding includes 1.7 million from the Greater London Authority's Warmer Homes London initiative, supporting residents on lower incomes in privately owned or rented homes with Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings of D to G.
Eight years ago, standing underneath the burning wreckage of Grenfell Tower, I was convinced it would be the catalyst for societal change; that something so awful, which resulted in the horrific loss of 72 lives, could not happen without things changing. And yet we sit here eight years later and people are still going to sleep in buildings that aren't safe.
Children's Minister Norma Foley emphasized the need to address misinformation regarding assessments of need, stating that they hold significant purpose and value in supporting families.