Simon Hughes led the angry response to David Cameron’s thoughts on social housing, and
now he’s stirring it up again. In an interview with the South London Press – picked up by Sunder Katwala over at Next Left – the Lib Dem deputy leader has attacked the Right to Buy, saying that local councils should decide
whether to offer it or not. Given the Thatcherite roots of the policy, there’s a firecracker quality to Hughes’s comments: lobbed into the debate, and designed to provoke the Tories.
I’m not sure the Tories will be too perturbed by Hughes’s intervention, though. Of course many of them are proud and supportive of Thatcher’s Right to Buy policy – and rightly so. But many also understand that it has its problems and, in the absence of new building, could well have contributed to that 5-million-person-long waiting list for social housing.
Get Britain's best politics newsletters
Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in