What should we do about the housing crisis?

I have been intending for some time to write something about the housing crisis.  After all, I worked for 17 years in the Council housing sector, then as a housing consultant, and later served as a member of a major city’s Housing Committee – so I ought to know something about it. However, it is now over 20 years since I ceased to be involved, so I find the current situation both unfamiliar and disturbing.  It is difficult to know where to start.

When should face coverings be worn?

The current controversy about face coverings for Covid19 has reminded me of the debate about women (or men) covering their faces for other reasons.  If it is OK for anybody to wear a face mask on public transport, why shouldn’t the niqab (Islamic face veil) be acceptable in normal public situations?

Labour’s election inquest report not welcome

A quick response to the media reports that the new report “LabourTogether 2019, general election review“ has been generally welcomed throughout the Party.  Well, I don’t share that welcome.

Stop BAME

I detest this acronym, and I wish people would stop using it.  It stands for “black, Asian and minority ethnic” and is a tautology, ungrammatical and arguably disrespectful.

Whom shall I vote for (Part 2)

As nominations have now closed, and actual voting will soon begin, it is time to make my mind up.  Here is my latest thinking - and the conclusion I have reached.

HS2 and Heathrow

It is very difficult for the layperson to make a balanced judgement about something when rival experts come to opposite conclusions about it.  HS2 is a case in point.  How can one judge between the conflicting claims of the Chair and Deputy Chair of the committee that was set up to establish the facts and make a recommendation on whether the thing should be built?  Since the experts can’t agree, I feel justified in putting in my own twopenn’orth.

Books I read in 2019 – and ones I didn’t finish

I spend a lot of my time reading.  My mother used to complain about it, but I have not been able to shake off the habit.  Most of what I read is ephemeral – news articles in the Economist or on the Guardian, FT or BBC websites.  At the same time I usually have two or three books going – changing from one to the other as the mood takes me.  I thought it might be interesting to look back and see what books I had actually read last year - and whether they had had any lasting effect on me. As far as I can remember this is a fairly complete list. I have made a few comments on each.

Whom shall I vote for? (Part 1)

Yesterday, nominations closed for the Labour Party leadership and deputy leadership.  The 5 candidates for each post now have to seek support from Constituency Labour Parties and affiliates.  This is my initial assessment.

Not the worst ever result

I keep reading or hearing that last month’s election result was the worst for the Labour Party since 1935, and that the Party is in terminal decline.  Before this statement becomes an established “fact”, I think a reality check would be in order.

Can Man plan?

“Can man plan?”  This was the response of one of my university lecturers in 1963 when I told him that I had decided on a career in town planning.  At the time I thought it was a silly question, but 56 years later I now think he had a point.

More thoughts on the election disaster - and the next Labour Leader

This is really a supplement to my earlier article. Most of it is actually quoted from a letter to an old friend, in which I described my own experiences canvassing in Portsmouth. This is what I wrote:

Time to scrap the Green Belt?

Most planning policies only last a few years before they are officially abandoned or they are undermined and nullified by events.  But one flagship planning policy has survived for over a hundred years with little amendment or public opposition – not even from those people who would benefit most from its abandonment.  That policy is the rule that cities must not be allowed to grow outwards but must be constrained by an ever tighter Green Belt. 

[Warning: I got carried away when writing this, and it has ended up far too long. But I quite enjoyed it, so I hope somebody finds it worthwhile to plough through to the end]

Right decision – wrong reasons.

The media are reporting that Winchester and Dulwich Colleges have rejected an offer of an endowment that would provide a scholarship for a white working class boy (not a girl apparently) to attend one of these elite public schools.  The reported reason for the rejection is that the schools do not want to discriminate on grounds of race.  While they each may have had the best of intentions, both the donor and the schools have got it wrong.