Quote Originally Posted by jon1959 View Post
Completely agree Eric.

I didn't mention housing in my post - but I spent most of my working life managing Council housing in Sheffield and it is the most critical factor in ensuring that society - with its ebbs and flows, incomings and outgoings - works.

We need to build and refurbish more homes. We need to stop the regressive Right To Buy system (loading debt on tenants, bleeding resources out of improvement and new build budgets, and creating concentrations of deprivation), stop second homes purchases, and limit the spread of Airbnb. The last two kill communities in rural Britain and ensure that there is no where for workers to live even if we can find workers for farms, restaurants and hotels in the first place. Unjoined-up thinking of the worst type that with the Brexit impacts and Covid disruptions has created social and economic chaos in many places.
There's loads they could be doing and aren't and I'm with anybody who criticises the government for that, I just don't care about the pearl-clutching about language/chasing votes from the right.

Part of the problem with our system seems to be how slow it is, we are still seeing bills going through parliament that during the election were being talked about as if they were 'from day 1'. The main danger for labour is even if they get it right, all this heel dragging means in 4 years time there is no noticeable change.