Competition over Housing

The other day I was listening to a radio programme about the conflict between immigrants and communities in the northern working towns. One of the biggest points of contention was the priority given to immigrants in the allocation of housing that is in very short supply.

After the show I thought to myself, what would happen if there was enough housing to go around and why couldn't it be done? As a basic necessity we really ought to be doing better in this regard.

Elsewhere the development of property is a good investment. Why can't councils develop affordable housing or use the planning process to enable it? The economics of this situation is twisted. It appears we would rather let some slum landlords rake in all the profits, artificially constraining the supply to keep rents up.

Invest by Employing

It seems clear now that we are going to have to grow our armed forces. There are many good reasons to support this if done right;

1. Grow the headcount, especially in the Army. Of a £100 paid in salary about £30 comes back to the government in direct taxes straight away. Ordinary working people do not save much of their income. Almost all goes back into the economy in mortgage payments, energy bills, food, etc

2. Where possible, buy British or at least European.

3. The Army recruits primarily from working class neighbourhoods that are suffering through the loss of traditional industries. The Army has always been a great way for working class boys and recently girls to get an excellent training.

A similar argument can be applied to employment of people in other sections of the state such as local government.