19th November 2017

...then I'll huff and I'll puff
And I'll blow your house down
                                    old nursery rhyme
I grew up remembering by heart colourful oral stories of big bad wolves.They helped me make sense of the world and provided a moral framework. Yet here in the UK the Chief Inspector of Schools has said they are no longer to be taught in schools. Ask any schoolkid today and have they even heard of them? Something has been lost. On Tuesday the French PM promises tough new measures to combat homelessness, and on Wednesday here the Chancellor is to announce plans to build more homes.  Yes, but will it be enough? Four months ago we ourselves bought an efficient new-build, affordable house in Bham. That's what's needed: more and more new, affordable houses like ours. Fly over the UK at present and you see acres of empty food-producing land, no longer needed. Houses are.  So, Mr. Chancellor, forget the 'sacrosanct' green belt and build lots of new garden cities like beautiful Bournville here in Bham, comprising parks, green areas and transport links. At a stroke this will give young people their first, affordable, step on the housing ladder, reduce crime caused by homelessness and improve life prospects and the economy. No longer Old Mother Hubbard who lived in a shoe, but the little pig who built his house of bricks. That's the way to stop the big bad wolf.