Lies won’t stop the truth

Finally the press have taken an interest in Margaret Jaconelli’s case. No surprise that The Herald and The Evening Times – the propaganda wing of the Labour party in Glasgow – have nothing to say. So  we only have The Daily Express – Tories to the core – covering the story of those who are ‘getting in the way’ of the Games Village: Read here.

We have no sympathy with the political line of The Daily Express, but at least they’ve reported some interesting facts. For instance, the District Valuer has set a sale price on Margaret Jaconelli’s 2-bedroom flat at £30,000. Yet Margaret Jaconelli states that an independent chartered surveyor valued her home (which she owns) at £95,000. A quick search on S1 homes shows that there isn’t a single property in the East End of Glasgow going for less than £72,950. This makes a valuation of £30,000 seem like a sick joke.

As Margaret says: “I’m not  moving. I need to get a decent settlement which would allow me to go and buy another property. What could i buy for £30,000?”.

A perfectly reasonable question and one that demands a fair response. But the Council seem happy instead to start spreading lies about Margaret Jaconelli. A  Council “spokeswoman” said that Margaret had been offered a place in The Games Village. But we’ve spoken to Margaret and she tells us this is a complete fabrication. The Council have also said that they have offered Margaret a shared ownership flat in Cranhill, and places in Housing Association accomodation. As if they had done everything possible to help Margaret find a new place – with the nasty insinuation being that Margaret is just stubborn or greedy.

But the point is that this is not a like-for-like trade. Imagine if a Compulsory Purchase Order was placed on a homeowner in a wealthy suburb of the West End, and if instead of offering the full value of the house, the Council offered less than a third of that value; or shared ownership; or a Housing Association. There would be an outcry! We defend Margaret’s right to hold out for the full price of her property. As we’ve already shown, certain developers – such as Charles Price – who don’t even live in the area, have been compensated with millons of pounds profit. Yet people like Margaret and the local shopkeepers, who’ve lived in, and contributed to the area all their lives are left to rot with nothing but eviction orders to face, and no clear future.

The Council must clear this mess up immediately.