Starmerite right-winger’s pretty housing theory is trumped by facts
I didn’t realise I’ve been helping hand this Starmerite head-banger’s posterior to him; all I did was make a passing comment.
But Luke Akehurst (for it was him – the right-wing scourge of socialists in the Substitute Tory Party) had to respond, and brought a torrent of facts down on himself, drowning out his feeble theory about house-building.
Here’s how it started:
Would they be good, low-cost council houses? No?
No point, then.
Labour under Starmer is just another money funnel for the rich.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) September 24, 2023
Luke tried to come back – only to be clobbered by an expert who works in this field:
I work in the new build sector as a site manager. I can tell you know that's bullshit. They build the least amount of social housing possible and then huge estates of 250k plus houses. It doesn't work and is one of the reasons social housing isn't getting built.
— The Revolutionary Riff (@TheRevRiff) September 24, 2023
The idea of house prices dropping as more are built horrified some home owners (and there is a debate to be had about whether dwelling-places, that everybody should have as a necessity, should also be investment opportunities. But that’s for another time).
Luke stuck to his guns – only to be shot down again:
They just built 1000 new homes near me 100 were social houses. Private property developers have all the say over what gets built as the council have no power to force them to build social housing. Nothing will change with labour in power.
— Chilled_DayZ (@Chilling_dayz) September 24, 2023
And again:
Yes exactly they get together and work out what will make the most profit with the least amount of social housing and the council has no say as the land is owned by the developers if the council say no then the developers we sit on the land then so the council get no new houses.
— Chilled_DayZ (@Chilling_dayz) September 24, 2023
We know this is true; developers blackmail councils into removing any restriction on their profits, under threat of not seeing estates built at all. That’s the reason the Tories wanted to lift anti-pollution rules for estates near environmentally-fragile rivers; developers with planning permission were refusing to build while they had to pay the costs of mitigating measures.
Not knowing when to give up, Luke kept going – and it kept getting worse for him:
Yes of course, we all now how it works we see it time and time again where the bare minimum is built. I’m sure you’ve heard of land banking right.
— Chilled_DayZ (@Chilling_dayz) September 24, 2023
Land banking is where property developers buy land with a view to developing it in the future – or withholding it from development until they get what they want.
% of low / cost social housing in new builds is rubbish. In Coventry Persimmons knocked down 12 social housing dwellings to build access to 157 new homes of which 22 were social housing. The rest are mainly bought by Landlords to relet on the private market
— Boudica (@Boudica_Buddug) September 25, 2023
What we’re seeing here is evidence of the “trickle-down” effect in action (or, more accurately, inaction): the claim that, once wealthy businesspeople have enough money, they’ll allow it to pass down to people with less (in this case in the form of social housing) is disproved by the fact that they use their negotiating power to force councils to accept the bare minimum, thereby maximising the amount that they, personally, take home.
But Keir Starmer’s party is supposed to think “trickle-down” is nonsense, isn’t it?
Apparently not. What actually happens trumps airy-fairy theory and Luke’s support for what is happening indicates support for “trickle-down” economics that helps the rich over the poor.
It’s a revealing glimpse of the real thinking behind Starmer party rhetoric.
I tried to get Luke to see sense…
Give it up, Luke. You're arguing theory against genuine lived experience. Real life must always trump political pipe dreams.
And the people arguing against you are right: nothing will change if parties like Labour refuse to face the facts.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) September 25, 2023
But it’s a forlorn hope. He’ll keep repeating his mantras because he wants us to believe them.
And that leads me to the big take-out from this story.
I don’t think this is about Labour politicians refusing to face the facts; I think it’s about them buying into the Tory/Nazi “Big Lie” concept.
This is the practice of repeating a claim that is known to be untrue, on the basis that if you repeat it often enough, people will believe it.
Think about that. Above, Luke has been told that his party’s ideas don’t work – time and again. But, time and again, he repeats the claims that have already been disproved.
My conclusion: He wants you to believe a lie.
Keir Starmer’s party is lying to you. And not just about this.
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Council give planning permission on the basis of a set % of social housing to be included. A significant way into the development, the developer tells the council that they cannot afford to build the social housing so what are they going to do about it ? Knock down all the houses that have already been built ?
I recall that one developer in Elephant & Castle built no social housing on a development. They paid the Council a sum of money “to build social housing” somewhere cheaper – probably deep in the outskirts of London.
Akenhurst like Adolf Starmer, is a liar
Akehurst doesn’t do reality. He starts every argument from a position of “I am right about everything so how do I justify that”. Any evidence to the contrary is dismissed in the grounds that if he keeps restating the same nonsense eventually everybody else will give up and leave him the last word. He ceased to have any connection with Planet Earth decades ago.
Nothing that Starmer and his nest of self serving, backstabbing traitors say, can believed or trusted … this has been proven time and time again!
Always good to see the ginger beaut get his arse handed to him.
But what’s all this about fakehurst claiming they’d be “constrained by a coalition partner”??
We’re always being told they’ll not coalesce with any party.Seems to me fatboy’s hedging his bets. 😙🎵
This corruption didn’t work last time.
If you google “New Labour, Council Housing, Thatcher” you’ll the Financial Times and Full Fact are among those citing the reality that, New Labour built less Council Houses in 13yrs than Thatcher did in one after inheriting a traditionalist Labour housing budget. Or you can check out the following.
“The Left’s Right Turn: Behind the media myth of neoliberal Blairite social ‘achievements’ ”
https://arena.org.au/the-lefts-right-turn/