And speaking of shunts, George Galloway is the target of some ire, today, from the chief executive of the National Housing Federation, David Orr. Galloway has been accusing Tower Hamlets council of selling out its tenants in stock transfer ballots. Orr responds by accusing Galloway of scaremongering, and points out that housing associations are non-profit making organisations, accountable to the tenants and to government. He believes they're the most cost-efficient way of bringing Tower Hamlets' social housing up to Decent Homes Standards, and accuses Galloway of cheating tenants out of home improvements in order to further his own political career. Galloway - whose arguments have a tendency to puff up into a big bubble of pomposity, half truths and Dickensian adjectives, before bursting and raining xxxx down on everybody around him - may turn out to be Defend Council Housing's worst enemy. More, here.

Trots v tenants - the battle for Clapham Park Estate [February 18]