Hey, Boris, here’s your resolutions for 2020...
Home truths from our feisty guest columnist
I Wonder what’s on your list of new Year resolutions? I suspect, after your resounding election victory, it’s a long one.
of course, you are advised by all sorts of super-bright people who know far more than me, but other than being a parent and step-parent, the greatest privilege of my life is to have a job that means I travel the length and breadth of our country seeing into people’s homes, families and working lives. and I’ve done this for 20 years as presenter of Channel 4’s location, location, location. So for what it’s worth this is what I think should be on your 2020 to-do list for the people of Great Britain...
Give small, family stores a break
We don’t want the great British high Street to disappear. they should be the places we shop, eat and meet at the weekends, but instead they’re too often decaying while we drive to out-of-town places for high-volume convenience.
I was thrilled to hear your pledge to reduce business rates for small businesses. hurrah! my mother-in-law, who is 90 and still runs her antique shop and employs three staff, should not be paying the same rates as Boots. What the americans call mom & Pop stores contribute hugely to our communities and lead to more human interaction.
I love my local high Street in honiton, devon, full of independent stores. the sad story this week about the little girl who found a desperate message from a forced Chinese labourer in a pack of tesco charity Christmas cards wouldn’t happen with small retailers who are more in touch with suppliers. So you could go further — and change the Sunday trading laws for these shops to let them open longer than bigger stores. they have a similar arrangement in Switzerland.
Take the torture out of moving
anYone who has ever bought or sold a property knows the process is far more cumbersome and stressful than it needs to be. our conveyancing system — the rigmarole of exchanging contracts and completing a sale — is broken. the good news is that sorting it out is not complicated, if your new housing minister has guts and energy.
first, he or she should implement the traffic light system that’s already been developed by the land registry, where you can see online which solicitor has done what. So once a solicitor has completed a task, they get a green light. next suggestion: Get all the lawyers, bankers, surveyors and agents’ professional bodies in a room — and don’t let them out until they’ve agreed on easy-to-understand protocols.
My answer to the housing crisis
forGet the agonising about concreting over green space — create affordable new housing around and on top of all singlestorey retails units.
I’ve seen this done in norway, not with boxy concrete apartments, but with light, spacious lofts that feel modern. retailers should jump at the idea. What better way to persuade people to buy from a proper shop? With roads and infrastructure in place, this is a far faster, greener way to build new communities.
And get rid of homework!
PleaSe, please, please get rid of homework and turn the energy of parents to reading with their offspring instead. It’s my greatest regret as a parent that I didn’t refuse homework for my children at primary school. Young children should be encouraged to read first and foremost, and be read to. homework should be a time when you cuddle up together at the end of the day, not battle it out while trying to cook supper.
It used to break my heart in the summer having to force my children indoors to sit on a chair and work. the pressure of homework creates a triangle of conflict between parents, children and teachers.
Some schools even take away a pupil’s break time if their homework hasn’t been done, a sadly common punishment that effectively gives the child a totally sedentary day.
Yes, you’ll be under pressure from former education minister michael Gove to continue with a rigorous academic agenda, and there’s a place for that of course, but listen to former culture minister ed vaizey as well, who has long argued for more arts education in our schools. for so many students, subjects such as food tech and crafts are vital and have enormous benefits. We need chefs and designers as much as physicists and physicians.