Where is the justice in ...

... a world where we insist that society is built upon a foundation of poor people, and where we insist that the poor amongst us are further impoverished through insisting they live together in "cheaper homes", which by definition create impoverished and disadvantaged area's, is this a modern form of social cleansing as The National Housing Federation is quoted as saying.

To explore the reasoning we have essential reading from the think tank Policy Exchange, the logic underpinning the 50 page report is based upon land costs ...

Area                                           Total per hectare         Total per home
London                                           £3,000,000                 £100,000
South East/East/South West            £900,000                   £30,000
Other regions                                   £450,000                   £15,000

... to be fair to Policy Exchange there is no recommendation to cut into the standards of design and construction, at least not just yet, as it states ...

We should build to Parker Morris standards (created in 1961, these set a minimum floor space for each property size).

• In one, two and three bedroom dwellings, one flushing toilet is required, and it may be in the bathroom.
• A semi-detached or end-of-terrace house for 4 people should have a net floor area of 72 square metres.
• A dwelling for three or more people should have enclosed storage space for the kitchen of 2.3 cubic metres.
• Dwellings should be fitted with heating systems that maintain the kitchen and circulation space at 13 degrees Celsius, and the living and dining spaces at 18 °C, when the external temperature is −1 °C.

Now the proposals have little effect upon the super-rich, cost is less important to those who build their personal gated properties.

It is with the middle classes and particularly the professional-managerial class of Britain [and other developed countries of the world] that will benefit from the ghettoization of the poor amongst us, the other side of this particular coin is the gentrification of existing social housing, an effect will be to underpin or in some cases increase property values though I do not see this aspect as of great importance, it is the creation of modern serfdom.

Without a lessor group of people to underpin the mobile middle classes what is the point of the middle classes, and if the lessor group are not segregated into their 21^st century ghetto how do the middle classes manage their aspirational lives.

Part of the middle/professional-managerial class are our politicians, the hinge pin that enables our middle classes to engineer society as an illusionary 21^st century version of the middle ages, the ultimate beneficiary of which are the super-rich who continue to own the majority of wealth whilst standing at the Orchestra Podium directing society to internal conflicts that fails to address the real problem of our 21^st century world, the provision of universal justice.

In Wales, we have political powers devolved to the Assembly Government, whereas Policy Exchange would advocate politics coercing social housing providers to ghettoise the less fortunate amongst us, I would encourage a policy that further integrates people into society through the prevention of social housing providers from building social housing in discrete, detached from others, estates.  Social housing providers should be obliged to purchase dwellings within the current housing stock.

McDonalds have a lot to ...

... teach our home grown politicians, because no-matter how you view their food, and the Chicken Legend with Batavia lettuce and Spicy Tomato Salsa in a bakehouse roll makes a mouth water, they know how to get things to the customers ............

In Wales, like so many parts of the world, we have a housing crisis, at least that's how politicians refer to it ......... crisis ..........we should have a solution at hand, there are enough politicians across the political divides of our green and pleasant lands, there are ...

Plaid Cymru, the home-grown separatist party without an original idea that can be shared, it said :

It (Plaid Cymru) wants to devolve primary legislation to housing, and pledge more affordable housing over the next four years.

Liberal Democrats, the mishmash of liberal tolerance that they couple with a we know best relationship with the world, it said :

They (the Welsh Liberal Democrats) place emphasis on bringing empty homes back into use, bringing more private money into housing and protecting any new social rented housing from being sold under the Right-to-Buy scheme for a minimum of 25 years, in areas where this is needed.

Conservatives in Wales on the other hand seem to have lost the plot completely when they were reported as saying :

The Conservatives pledge to tackle the problem of 'garden grabbing' and halting inappropriate development on flood plains in the countryside.

The Labour Party come to the rear of this motley crew with help upgrading the insulation, bathrooms and kitchens of those living in social housing :

They (Welsh Labour) say it remains committed to a strong mix of social and private housing, and promises a further £1.2bn to deliver the Welsh Housing Quality Standard for all council and housing association tenants across Wales.

Now to be fair, the current Welsh Assembly Government has put its toe into the waters that hold a real solution for those in need of good homes, I reported it last Tuesday, the Ely Project.  The only things this excuse for governance had to stump up was a loan of £6 million (chickenfeed by political standards), and I think public sector land, why no other plans ?


Now back to McDonald's, I wonder what they would do if they were sitting in Cardiff Bay with the "motley crew", I think they would have a programme up and running within 18 months delivering at least 10,000 homes (social housing) a year for a decade.  It money for old rope, in the UK if the people living in the homes fall an bad times the government picks up the tab, it's better business than the Quarter Pounder Deluxe with Bacon, unfortunately in Wales .........

............ we have an enormous amount of political .....

..................................... bullshit .

Right to buy, here in Wales ...

... the politicians will probably say no to the people.

Across the boundary that was Offa's Dyke David Cameron and Nick Clegg will reveal details on Monday of their vision to democratise housing further, Margaret Thatchers flagship programme of council house sales is to be upgraded to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

The average £26,000 discount for a council home is set to jump to about £52,000, with tenants in London and the South East saving even larger sums under the new scheme, additionally first-time buyers will be eligible for 95 per cent mortgages, similar to those available at the height of the property boom five years ago, and underwritten by the government.  Will the new loan guarantee result in lenders providing mortgages with deposits of only 5 per cent, compared with the 20 per cent or more that has to be paid at the moment?


Mr Cameron will also confirm plans to release thousands of acres of public land owned by hospitals, schools and the Ministry of Defence to allow, in theory, up to 100,000 homes to be built.

Good news?  Probably, it has every chance of working, the right ingredients are ready to put into the mixing bowl, unfortunately for the peoples of Wales mainstream politics is firmly embedded in the politics of the last century so the scheme is unlikely to migrate westwards ..............

.............. yet we all pay the same taxes ?

Mean spirited, not the voice of Wales, or ...

... is it an attempt to impose a selective apartheid to further the aims of the separatist agenda ?


To understand the politics of Jac it might be necessary to read his latest diatribe supported by Miserable, it represents a separation of people based upon origin and social conditions, except where the origin might fit a comfortable criteria that is perceived to have no impact on the objectives of the nationalists of the North West (refugees and the persecuted).  It is of course an extension of "identity politics" so beloved of the nationalists of Wales.

The preoccupation with group injury is one of the most visible features of identity politics.  The rhetoric of victimisation indicates that it is a sense of vulnerability that fuels the demand for the validation of identity, and it is the fragile character of emotion-based identities that unleashes the permanent quest for affirmation.¹  It is a belief that precisely because the quest for identity can never be fully realised that it is open to the influence of intolerant sensibilities.  An insecure identity not only craves recognition, it also has difficulty dealing with challenges to itself.

¹ 'Fragile identities' Therapy culture:Cultivating Vulnerability in an Uncertain Age. 2004. London: Routledge.

With the call by Jac and Miserable for the application of intolerance upon the most vulnerable sections of society, a group of people who might depend for shelter on the Social Housing sector, how soon before there is a call to extend their modern day Welsh apartheid to the rental market as a whole, or to apply conditions of residence before a person is allowed to buy a home in Wales.

And what exactly is this society that Jac and Miserable wish to stamp upon?  It is anyone they do not approve of, anyone that doesn't fit into their narrow vision of the future.

Intolerance of our neighbours takes many forms, the last European nationalists to identify and treat sections of society as less than desirable were the Nazi regime of Germany who discriminated against ...

• Jews
• Roma (or Gypsies)
• political prisoners
• homosexuals
• people with disabilities
• Jehovah's Witnesses
• Catholic clergy
• ...

... and who will be the local judge to determine acceptability, candidates best be devoid of social conscience and responsibility, maybe Jac or Miserable ............

100,000 news homes every month ...

... being built, unfortunately for those needing a home in Wales, the homes are being built in Shanghai ...

... I was astonished when Andrew Marr made the announcement in his new series called "Megacities" (if you missed the first episode it is available on the BBC iPlayer), in the series he looks at how people live in five of the world's largest cities of London, Dhaka, Tokyo, Mexico City and Shanghai.

Of course it is much simpler to provide mass housing when you are developing a new city like Shanghai and the government is China, planning is pragmatic, a means to an end; would our politicians at Cardiff Bay emulate the Chinese please, pragmatism please.

Could it be the solution is "build it and they will come", not so much a megacity, more a mega-Cardiff, or mega-Swansea, or "mega-somewhere-with-good-links" to London the megacity of Great Britain.  Might the answer be to join Cardiff with Newport in the East and Bridgend in the West, a massive urban adventure to create the thousands of homes needed; forget the rural idyll of Wales past, it didn't exist, there was only hard graft, poor living and the Chapel on Sundays.  It is time to start building, forget the Plaid model that is preventative, look across Offa's Dyke for HA solutions that work for people of all parts of society, Jephson is a particularly good example of a holistic approach to housing, Shanghai is the proof of the "housing needs" pudding.

Get building Carwyn, and they will come, in their droves with their approval, who needs a damp house in perpetual shade when we have award winning architects and builders aplenty.