Campaigners from Islington Kill the Housing Bill organised a protest at Holloway Prison on 14th May 2016 to highlight the Government’s plans to sell off older prison land to private developers, much of it for luxury housing.

The protest attracted support from various campaign groups as well as local councillors and Islington North MP, Jeremy Corbyn.

Several issues come together in this protest. Women are unfairly treated by the justice system, and the closure of Holloway, the only women’s facility in the capital, will see prisoners sent far from their families and other support systems. The housing crisis is already recognised as so bad, that on release some prisoners are being given tents by prison authorities.

The newly passed Housing Act is a further attack on truly affordable council housing, and on working families, especially with its ‘pay to stay’ provisions as well as the deregulation of Housing Associations.

On top of all this the sell-off of public land, the Victorian prisons, to the private sector will only add more pressure, making it almost impossible for key workers to continue living in London.

In this film, Labour councillors pledge to defy the new legislation, and liken a potential revolt to the era of the Poll Tax, but the thing most apparent is that few people realise just how far-reaching and devastating the new law is.