Initially, I found it quite confusing to hear that Islington’s Liberal Democrats were advocating the demise of Homes for Islington – the very body that the former Lib-Dem administration defended so vociferously as being incredibly good value for money!

However, what they propose, by suggesting a ballot, may not in fact be aimed at closing down the ALMO, but instead be actually designed to provide the ALMO with the means to metamorphose into its next stage of development.

A tenants’ ballot, if it supplies the required vote to retain the ALMO, could possibly be used to justify a large scale stock transfer, thereby placing the onerous responsibility for all future problems in Islington’s housing squarely on the shoulders of the voting public.

Hopefully, tenants will see beyond the “smoke and mirrors” and refuse a divisive and extremely costly ballot, by simply demanding that their council housing is returned to where it rightly belongs… under direct council magement. – Dr B.S.Potter, chairman, Federation of Islington Tenants’ Associations.