THE PRIVATE SLUMS OF EAST LONDON

To millions of workers, Tory talk about 'equal opportunity' in housing means a chance to continue living in slum conditions under the rack of private landlords who stand back and reap their profits.

The rights the Tories understand are those which sanctify the private ownership of land and property, rights which are used to batten down and exploit workers seeking decent In the 200 workers and their famiies are fighting the battle of their lives against slum conditions which almost defy description.

The 'Dwellings' we visited were built 112 years ago in 1860 and in their time would have been considered as flats for artisans and fairly 'upright' sections of the labour aristocracy.

The conditions the tenants now have to endure and bring up children in almost defy description. It seems as if every effort is being madeunsuccessfully -to crush their dignity.

Many walls are rotted with damp and mildew and some ceilings are collapsing with the damp. There are no bathrooms, no caretaker, no hot water and cramped dangerous kitchens (where the only toilet is situated.)

The electric points and wiring are dangerous and tenants claim illegal. The drains are all blocked, which means that sinks and toilets are often filled to overflowing point with rubbish and filth of all descriptions.

Huge communal dustbins stand open in the grounds without any cover. The courtyards themselves are full of cracked paving. Rats, bugs, fleas and mice freely roam about these ditions.

There are few if any lights on the stairways and the darkness has led to a number of accidents.

In these degrading conditions workers still have to live and work on. But they are not taking the situation lying down.

Brian and Pauline Callaghan recently decided with some friends to form an action committee to demand the local Labour council in Tower Hamlets compulsorily purchase their slums and in the meantime provide decent facilities for people to carry on living. Top left: Brian and Pauline Callaghan who formed a committee to demand Council action. Right: a rat-infested alleyway. Left: kitchen and toilet in the same room means cramped, dangerous and unsanitary conditions.

"These flats are in a terrible state,' Pauline told me, shortly before leading a delegation to the council's housing and management committee to demand action. 'One of the worst things is when all the rubbish and filth from the sewers comes straight up into our sinks. We can do nothing about it at all. In fact, men who were trying to fix the sewers and drains gave up in the end because they were in such a terible state. "The same thing happens regularly in the toilets. How can people live in these conditions?' she asked. 'Until we fixed it we had fungus in the baby's room and there is no daylight in any of the bedrooms, In the winter it gets so damp in my son's room we have to move him out. You see, there are no electric points so the heater can't be put on. 'We had to put in our own hot water. But many people, pensioners, have to do without. You have the toilet in the same room as the kitchen. And once the toilet door opened on the cooker and I burned all my arms as a result?

Just as Pauline was telling me about the lack of lighting on the stairs, Joe Lonsdale from a neighbouring block came in and verified an accident that happened to his wife. 'When my wife was eight months pregnant she fell down the stairs when an ambulanceman came to take her to hospital. It was all because there was no light on the stairs. The ambulanceman went down with her,' he told me.

Said Brian Callaghan, a docker in the Royal Group: 'Everything about these flats is illegal. Take the wiring. It is all pre-war and the mains is wood-based which is against regulations.' Brian and his wife have lived there for four years. 'We had to have a place when we got married like any other couple.' 'Everyone's got different names in their rent books and it seems impossible to find out They pay £3.84 a week, including rates, for their twobedroom flat. Others pay considerably more.

To pay rates is an insult considering the state of the rubbish bins outside in the yards. Pauline showed me three large containers, standing open between two blocks. 'You can't let the kids out in the summer for fear of the diseases they might get,' she said.

'We just want to live decently and without fear. I would just like somewhere private to have a wash if l want to. Like this it is unbearable.' Added Brian: 'They just collect the rents until the land value goes up and then sell it to the highest bidder.

'Labour councils should take over all the flats belonging to private landlords. But the Labour government once promised they would nationalize the docks and they broke their word. 'They should nationalize the land as well, but will they? It's like the docks. How can you force people to do something when it goes to the executive council and that's that?'

Press, Tuesaay september 15, 191Z