Interesting to see Tories support housing reform
THE recent article on planning reforms in the Examiner was really informative.
The one key fact missing which helps fully explain the reforms, though, is that house-building companies donate huge amounts of money to the Conservative Party.
It was very interesting to see our local Conservatives now support these reforms. When Councillor Armer shared his thoughts on the original proposals back in the autumn of 2020, it was clear he had some reservations about them.
As far as I am aware (although I will stand corrected on this) the only thing that has really changed is that the number of houses which are now going to be built in places like the leafy shires has been reduced, with this reduction balanced out by higher-than-initially-intended numbers of houses being built in the Midlands and the North.
It is well known there is a real need for a lot more affordable housing of a suitable standard in this country. There are, though, many who are sceptical that giving house-building companies more of a free rein is going to deliver them.
You only need to read reports in the Examiner on current housing developments to know how difficult it already is to persuade housing companies to build affordable houses. That is because building a relatively basic house is obviously far less profitable than building a luxurious five-bedroom house.
Whatever happens, there will obviously still be many Conservative supporters who will blame the council as more of our delightful Green Belt is concreted over.
As the saying goes ‘There are none so blind as those who cannot see.’
Stop calling folk fools
TREVOR Woolley cannot understand why the Conservatives did so well at the polls? If he were a little more inward looking then he may understand.
Both he and Mr Sheerman have called some voters fools or uneducated simply because they exercised their right to vote how they felt. Those kinds of words really do not endear you to others.
For such a long time all we have read from Mr Woolley is political drivel. Strange how the gentleman has never once extolled the furlough scheme which must have saved thousands of jobs and helped people through exceptional times. Maybe all that money went to Boris Johnson’s chums and not the public?
As for the BBC supporting the Tories, you must not watch many news reports or current affairs programmes from the BBC. Even the right-wing press are biased, cries Mr Woolley – what of the left-wing press?
Newspaper political support, left or right, has gone on since the
1800s. When you have a minute take a look at the number of left-wing papers that are in circulation.
Stop treating people like fools and sheep. You insult people’s intelligence by forgetting they live their lives as they see fit. Re-focus and have a go at the Kirklees administration. Stand for election, then you can work from the inside for change if successfully elected.
Third way for scones?
PHEW, now we have had confirmation, yet again, that a detailed breakdown of Covid-19 cases is freely available online, the rest of us can turn our attention to other matters of importance – namely, the great scone controversy.
Denis Kilcommons reports that 51% of Britons pronounce it to rhyme with ‘gone’ whereas 42% pronounce it to rhyme with ‘tone,’ with my own view being that the former was the posh way and the latter was the Yorkshire way – I am of course firmly of the latter.
However, surely the most obvious question has to be, how on earth do the remaining 7% pronounce it?
Also, pardon my ignorance here, but what exactly is a Wigan Slappy?