Shapps' Housing Policies 'Even More Damaging Than Thatcher's'

Grant Shapps is a nice chap! He's very much a man of the future in the Tory party and is being encouraged into the limelight as the "acceptable face of the Tories" as the "Nasty Party" moves into a new era in which Thatcherism is but a distant memory. So just why is this minister pursuing policies even more damaging than Margaret Thatcher ever dreamt of? Thatcher, the bête noir of social housing. Even she didn't suggest that anyone who has made a success of their life should be forced to move on from their Council estate like some unwelcome guest who has outstayed their welcome. How desperately damaging it will be if we move on anyone who becomes wealthy, whether or not they want to go. We will be creating ghettos of failure. Social housing will equal lack of ambition and define those who are stuck in a second class environment. Instead of rewarding success we will be moving that success on to another nearby community. That's not how it should be. Social housing, formerly Council housing, was meant to be for hard working families who didn't have capital to buy their own homes. It was for people who were successful in their lives but who hadn't been born expecting an inheritance to pay for a deposit on a house. There was a vision behind Council housing and many politicians worked to make that vision a reality. Mistakes were made, many mistakes. But there were also many successes and fine communities were created in many areas of Britain. Read the rest of this opinion piece on the Huffington Post UK website.