yuck

I'm really tired and really down. I think of all the things that have happened in life, this is probably one of the worst. Having your home taken over by another person who refuses to leave is really, really scary. You realize you have no rights - or what rights you have can only be exerted in a lengthy, expensive, nasty way in court. It just frightens the beejeezus out of me that a written contract has no weight or cannot bind anyone to a formal agreement, until it's gone to court! And everyone keeps telling me it's to "protect tenants against evil landlords". I get that evil landlords exploit tenants, but I absolutely cannot believe that as a landlord, you can be made homeless by the simple fact your property is being squatted by an unwanted tenant who refuses to move.

You own nothing in life, that's absolutely clear. And in Britain, the guy who squats your home is given a lawyer provided by the council and you're told you had no right to rent your own flat out on the assumption that same man might adhere to a signed, legal contract. Where's my lawyer Camden? Where's my one bedroom flat? Where's my Rhonda Clarke, telling me that if the friend I'm staying with wants me out, I need to sit tight until the bailiffs forcibly remove me?

Oh yeah. That's right. I'm the kind of person who leaves when asked, who signs agreements and keeps to them, who doesn't work on the side, and claim benefits to top up my life, who doesn't think that they're entitled to an apartment and a lawyer and a Rhonda Clarke, paid for by the government. Because I'm the kind of person, like most of us, who takes responsibility for their own life.

I just don't want to take responsibility for a man called Simon Longo who thinks my home is his because he doesn't want to leave.

I'm beginning to hate my home country with a passion.