WATER AND GAS WANTED

Evening Star, Issue 25893, 10 September 1946, Page 7

WATER AND GAS WANTED

ABORTIVE MEETING WITH COUNCIL SPECIAL COMMITTEES FORMED (Eeo. 11.45 a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 9. A squatters’ committee of Communists and housewives for two hours demanded light, gas, and water from Kensington Borough Council officials without gaining a pennyworth of gas or a kettleful of water, says the ‘ Daily Mail.’ The officials insisted that .they had no power to grant the request. The squatters’ committee secretary said the meeting with the council was most unsatisfactory. The council agreed only to collect refuse. He added that the squatters had decided to collect a flat all-round rent amounting to 10s a week which would be paid into a bank. . • The squatters appointed a -Finance and, Feeding. Committee and a Press 1 officer. A spokesman declared that the movement was extending, but he denied that flats were being taken over for members of the Communist Party. He also' denied that the ; movement was directed against the Labour movement. The ‘ Daily Mail ’ says that owners of unoccupied premises throughout London took steps to safeguard themselves. They rushed shops to buy padlocks, crowbars, and other materials, and prospective occupiers went round putting up curtains to give the impression that flats were already occupied. Meanwhile squatters continue to arrive at Kensington.