A Clear Steer from Skier (Starmer)?
Wednesday 24th May 2023
I don’t know who was more taken aback. My favourite Radio 4 Today programme presenter Justin Webb, or me.
Justin had asked Sir Keir Starmer (Skier) leader of the Labour Party, a question about higher rate taxes, I think assuming he would get the usual fudged answer about Labours' intentions ‘when’ in power.
But no - we had a clear answer that he would not raise higher rate taxes further. Justin was so shocked that he didn’t quite manage to skewer Skier with his follow-up questions as to whether it was an acknowledgement higher taxes drove away talent and investment. Skier slalomed around the supplementaries in the usual way.
However, skewered or not, Skier had made a big bold – dare I say it Tory – pledge.
That was a couple of weeks ago but then -again- this week just past, I heard him live on Times Radio announcing that he would be happy to build on the Green Belt.
Some would say that is electoral suicide - others would say Brave.
I say ‘Bravo’.
A considerable proportion of the Green Belt is a desert of mono-culture crops without a live insect, let alone a bird in sight. Except for crows of course, thanks to Chris Packham. I don’t suggest hacking down trees ‘Plymouth styli’ but building adjacent to cities where most of the infrastructure needed already exists, makes total sense.
See my previous blog on this: 'Fill A Field vs Brand New Towns'.
Skier also said in the same interview that he was happy to see house prices dropping. Now this is a big one!
I have never greatly approved of our national obsession about having to own one’s own home. There are many advantages to the flexibility of renting. Particularly, for job mobility and the young.
In my view, the real and slightly unspoken reason is - greed. People see house prices going up year on year, and in the absence of good pensions rely on their homes as their pot of last resort.
If house prices are to come down (and by the way they won’t unless we build about 500,000 a year) then the capitalist in me ventures to suggest the desire to own a property might just wane a tad.
Living in Lambeth, there is no point voting if you don’t support Labour because in our seat, that team always wins. But do you know what? If Skier keeps smoothly gliding down the blue slopes of policy, I might even be tempted to throw my snowball in his direction.
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