BS: 'Housing Crisis' & Labour Party Funding

Subject: BS: 'Housing Crisis' & Labour Party Funding
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 04:37 AM

For some time now we've heard a lot about the 'housing crisis' in the UK. As a result of this 'crisis' the Labour Government intends to build 3 million new homes - oh yes, and they're also relaxing the planning laws for major infrastructure projects (how relaxed can you get?).

I've never been terribly convinced by any of this. My perception is that Labour is in thrall to property developers and it is they who call the shots (when they say "jump!", Labour says "how high?"). I suspect that the case for covering more of our 'green and pleasant land' with shoddy (and they will be shoddy!)little boxes has got much more to do with profit than it does with need. After all the 'crisis' is largely self-inflicted - houses are too expensive (largely due to the fact that 'market forces' have been allowed to rage unchecked) Thatcher sold off most of our social housing, many inner cities are full of decaying, unoccupied houses and only about 30% of the planned 3 million are 'planned' to be 'affordable' (the remaining 70% are, presumably, for profit?).

Now the press is full of allegations about leading Labour politicians receiving possibly illegal donations from a North Eastern property developer ... I wonder if there's a link?

Subject: RE: BS: 'Housing Crisis' & Labour Party Funding
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 03:45 AM

Does no-one have an opinion on this?

So everyone's happy with unelected property developers taking over our country then?

Subject: RE: BS: 'Housing Crisis' & Labour Party Funding
From: Teribus
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 08:15 AM

Absolutely Guest Shimrod, they at least would have a damn sight better idea of how to do it than the crowd of useless tossers currently attempting to run the country.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Housing Crisis' & Labour Party Funding
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 12:11 PM

What, cover the country in concrete more efficiently you mean?

Subject: RE: BS: 'Housing Crisis' & Labour Party Funding
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 03:10 AM

And yet, they want to obliterate an entire village with the proposed new runways announced on November 23rd, nearly a thousand homes ploughed under, to expand an airport that has only just been extended.

Full story here, including a picture showing just how close it is to residential areas and the village of Slipson which would become a car park.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: 'Housing Crisis' & Labour Party Funding
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 04:41 AM

In another web forum, that I participate in, we were challenged to devise a slogan to sum up the state of modern Britain. Mine were:

"Profit first, middle and last"

and

"Development at any cost"

Subject: RE: BS: 'Housing Crisis' & Labour Party Funding
From: GUEST,albert
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 05:29 AM

New Labour long ago lost both its soul and its policies to the free marketeers and big business bosses...and I am writing as a former Labour Party member.
Brown came to office to offer an alternative to the shabby years of Blair but after all he was joint architect of all that went on under Blair.
albert

Subject: RE: BS: 'Housing Crisis' & Labour Party Funding
From: Big Phil
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 05:35 AM

Think for a few seconds about the "open borders" regime the Labour party has operated for the last few years, how many have come here, no one has any idea, may be one million, may be 3 million, they ALL want somewhere to live, is this good Government, or as I believe just a complete balls up.
As to the funding debacle, it is like watching a car crash happen before your eyes. Little by little the truth is been extracted from the Labour party, who's new slogan is now " not me gov ".
I do not believe its by chance that this benifactor is a property developer, this old saing says it all for me, if it smells like a rat, if it behaves like a rat and if it looks like a rat, then it probably is a rat.
Time to get real, if you support this set of Clowns in government, then you deserve all you get, Labour for the working classes, yes and the moon is made of green cheese.

Phil*

Subject: RE: BS: 'Housing Crisis' & Labour Party Funding
From: sapper82
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 08:06 AM

Agreed Phil. The Labour Party has long been the party of the Middle Classes riding on the backs of the Working class.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Housing Crisis' & Labour Party Funding
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 09:47 AM

"Time to get real, if you support this set of Clowns in government, then you deserve all you get, Labour for the working classes, yes and the moon is made of green cheese."

I totally agree - trouble is at least some of Labour's support seems to be bleeding off to the Tories and even the BNP! The slogan of the British voter seems to be: "If you've got a sore toe, cut your whole f***ing leg off!"

Me? I support the Lib Dems until they get into power, and get into bed with Big Business ... then I will support someone else (not the Tories or BNP!).

Subject: RE: BS: 'Housing Crisis' & Labour Party Funding
From: GUEST,Not a property developer
Date: 03 Dec 07 - 04:30 AM

As soon as there are enough houses, the cheapest of them will become "affordable".
So I say build new houses, but only at the top end of the market. That way we build nicer houses, improving the housing stock, improving living standards and making the country a nicer place.
Then everyone moves up a notch, leaving the cheapest houses for first time buyers.
Surely that's much better than building nasty little boxes at the bottom end of the market?
Oh, and a few less people coming in would help too.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Housing Crisis' & Labour Party Funding
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 03 Dec 07 - 06:10 AM

'GUEST, Not a property developer' there seem to be five huge assumptions underlying your contribution:

(i) The only thing at issue is the crude economics of house building.

(ii) We have an infinite amount of land available which we can go on filling up with houses and infrastructure forever.

(iii) Because agriculture (food production) is not very viable at the moment it won't be again in the future. And there will never be a time when we won't be able to rely on imported food and will need to feed our ever-growing population on 'home-grown' food.

(iv) The surface of this island is exclusively for human use only and any other living things are irrelevant.

(v) Overpopulation is solely the fault of immigrants and has nothing to do with the indigenous assumption that exponentially expanding human populations are not a problem.

Until we start challenging such absurd assumptions, and start looking at ways of slowing down population growth and reducing the 'human footprint' (as opposed to madly increasing it) will we have any a chance of the survival of the human race beyond the next couple of centuries.