SoLongCeylon wrote:The entertainment from the Crawfraud events has indeed been wonderful. As well as entertaining us he has also IMO taught others a lesson in the consequences of being so stupid and WRONG. Why the hell did TC get fooled into throwing away the equity in his house for a bit of fame on Youtube and dwindling applause from meetings in downmarket pubs?
It also occured to me recently that these people only have a short time in the limelight where publicity is easy and the illusion of winning against the PTB cannot be maintained for long...
I agree. They no longer have any campaign momentum. Popular sympathy melted away when the true facts of Crawfraud's situation were known (that they had cancelled the endowment part of their mortgage, and then refused B&B's advice to convert to repayment).
This illustrates a key factor which explains the general weakening of the anti-eviction campaign, I think. Initially they were able to get sympathy by presenting "
cruel bank suddenly sends bailiff thugs" which resonated well with English values (the sanctity of family & home, the greedy banks, the plight of a struggling householder etc). People supported them on social media, and in direct protests.
But raising awareness and interest has led to another unintended effect. The wider public now see that in all these cases, the lender has not in fact acted aggressively or unreasonably. That there is usually a history, several years of patient, constructive attempts to resolve arrears. And that repossession really is a last resort when the borrower persistently fails to co-operate. The 'victim' narrative cannot survive this.
& is proceeding to dump the interior of the bungalow in a skip.