Will Angela Rayner really water down the right-to-buy scheme?

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner is said to be planning on watering down the right-to-buy scheme which enables council tenants to purchase their homes from local authorities at a significantly reduced price. The policy, famously introduced by Margaret Thatcher in 1980, has helped many thousands of families become home-owners, giving them greater security and a stake in their local communities. But councils are keen to cut the cost of Thatcher’s flagship policy. As a result, Rayner – who once blasted her opponents as Tory ‘scum’ – is considering axing the scheme for newly built council houses and cutting the discount offered to existing tenants. While Downing Street has insisted the policy won’t be scrapped altogether, the government is considering tightening up the rules dramatically in the coming weeks.

The whiff of hypocrisy is strong enough to knock you over. Back in 2007, Rayner took advantage of this very scheme to buy her former council house in Stockport, Greater Manchester at a 25 per cent discount.