Ask practically any Conservative what they believe is the first duty of government and they will reply: "To protect the realm". The response from most Labour politicians and Lib Dems would be "to take care of the people" or "of the community". However, even the driest Tory would not admit to being easy about Britons starving to death en masse for the sake of Queen and Country. To be fair, this does not happen even under the current administration, though it relies on community enterprise in the form of food banks to achieve this.
I believe that in addition to assuring the rights of people to have enough food to live on and to receive free health care, government should also assert that people have a right to a roof over their heads. I welcome Tahir Maher's post on Liberal Democrat Voice, drawing attention to the resolution by the Lib Dem conference just ended that includes a call for the Government to ensure everyone has a right to an affordable, safe and secure home.
Central government does not build houses (apart perhaps for those for armed services personnel, though even here the Conservatives have been merrily selling off stock). Claims that "we have built n thousand more houses than Labour" ring particularly hollow coming from this present administration. Councils do, and they should have their power to raise funds for the purpose restored. Housing associations do, but not enough, and the threat of "right to buy" should be lifted from them. Private developers do, but the big players are sitting on land banks waiting for an upturn in the economy - which, if the Bank of England is correct, will not come after Brexit.
Housing is a devolved matter, but central government has a key role in creating an economic environment which persuades builders that it is in their interests to develop land that they own and which permits local councils to meet the needs of their people. Westminster should also be able to step in if Cardiff or Edinburgh are not meeting their responsibilities.
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In a piece suggesting that building firms which donate to Conservative party funds are able to steer policy, Private Eye also attacks the government's claims on housing.
Criticism is growing that the Help to Buy government mortgage subsidy is mainly just pushing up housebuilders' profits. [...] Even Tory-friendly newspapers have attacked the scheme [...] the Mail argued that the danger that Help to Buy would "bump up house prices, boost builders' profits and increase debt" has been realised, while a Times analysis suggested that the top five housebuilders have doubled profits but barely increased the number of homes built.
Both Lib Dem Wera Hobhouse and the Daily Mirror have accused Theresa May of hypocrisy in her recent speech on social housing.
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