THE LIVES OF squatters and the vulnerably housed will be made ever more interesting from 1st September, thanks to the Coalition’s new law – the tongue-tying s144 LASPO 2012. According to the Advisory Service for Squatters: “Not everyone who is squatting, or considered by others to be squatting, will be affected by the new law, but people will need to be prepared to explain, quite forcefully at times, why they are not affected.” For the exact wording of the law, see A.S.S.’s site (http://www.squatter.org.uk). Adding further to this, an internal police Powerpoint presentation is doing the rounds with the Met and other forces, on how to deal with the new law and the superpowers it bestows. Crucially, in situations where the new law has no impact (such as in non-residential buildings, or in buildings where the occupiers have been tricked into entering by bogus letting agents), police who desperately want to make an arrest are given a list of other crimes to try to fit up with.
