WITH control of housing policy devolved to Holyrood, voters interested in Scotland’s future housing landscape could be forgiven for taking limited interest in this Thursday’s General Election. However, many areas of policy with a major impact on housing remain reserved to Westminster. For instance, far-reaching UK Government reforms to welfare policy are having a direct effect on availability, affordability and access in the Scottish housing sector.
CIH Scotland has recently highlighted the negative social impact and spiralling costs of implementing Universal Credit. These impacts include delayed payments leading to a substantial increase in rent arrears, significant resources committed by social landlords towards supporting tenants with the transition and an increasing reluctance by private landlords to let property to Universal Credit claimants. Meanwhile, 21,000 younger Scots are facing a potential rent affordability gap of up to £22.6 million from plans to introduce a new lower cap on housing benefit for social housing tenants.
These are policy areas where the actions of a future UK Government will have a real impact on the Scottish housing sector. Anyone interested in Scotland’s future housing landscape should consider carefully the implications for Scottish housing of this Thursday’s election. Having done so, make sure you vote!
Annie Mauger
CIH Scotland
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British values are not the answer to terrorism threat
HEARTS and minds must be turned away from terror, says Theresa May (The National, June 5).
Potential terrorists are as difficult to find as a needle in a haystack but the Tory government reduced the police force in England by 20,000, mainly from the front-line who knew where all the haystacks were and those most likely to contain a needle.
Instead of strengthening the service at grassroots level the government chose to spend more on collecting details on all phone calls, texts, emails and website visits while expanding the data collected by GCHQ, resulting in a mountain of hay that is almost impossible to search for needles.
Now in desperation the Prime Minister appears to be turning away from military intervention and even counter-terrorism operations towards more regulation of the internet by the service providers.
The answer to turning people’s minds away from violence is apparently increasing censorship of the internet and making potential terrorists understand the superiority of “pluralistic British values” over their own.
Making people understand is not an easy task. Perhaps making local communities feel safer and more inclusive by a return to policing at grassroots level would improve the chances of reducing terrorism in years to come.
John Jamieson
South Queensferry
LET’S face it, Prime Minister, complete chaos has hit the U-turn election pulled out of thin mountain air by yourself and foisted on the country. Of course you didn’t know it would coincide with new and appalling outbreaks of terror. But almost miraculously, it seems, you had an answer up your sleeve. From your Downing Street doorstep this week you explained how one truly United Kingdom would heap defeat upon its enemies, as it has always done.
We must come together, we must pull together in this tried and tested way, you counselled us from on high. But to help things along, you said a new Conservative government was planning robust extra measures. In other words, the old Tory dream of peace in our time has never died.
Surely some form of award, acclaim or humble thanks should be given to the Rt Hon (Enough is Enough) Theresa. Or maybe some advice on thinkin’ again about vows and soundbites.
Jack Newbigging
Irvine
ON listening to the PMs statement outside Downing St on Sunday morning, I couldn’t help being reminded of an old Dad’s Army classic, in which Captain Mainwaring and Sergeant Wilson are discussing the war. Captain Mainwaring uses a cricketing analogy, by reply Sergeant Wilson states: “The Nazis don’t play cricket sir.” The Captain promptly replies: “ I know that Wilson and there wouldn’t be a war if they did.”
Theresa May’s assumption on British values being superior to all others is neo-imperialist rhetoric — if only Johnny Foreigner played cricket and read Shakespeare all would be well.
Condemning and acting against terrorist atrocities is any government’s remit, crass statements of British values help no-one.
Terry Keegans
Beith, North Ayrshire
I STAND with Theresa May. We have indeed been too accommodating about extremism and we must fight to defend democracy.
I can think of no worse example of unacceptable extremism than to illegally invade a country with tanks and bombs and kill hundreds of thousands of entirely innocent people on a tissue of lies.
Is the democracy we have to defend the same democracy that elected, by huge majority (in an election declared clean and fair by UN and EU observers), a secular president that we then funded and armed Islamic terrorists (aka “rebels”) to try to remove?
The level of hypocrisy we face is breathtaking.
Dave McEwan Hill
Sandbank, Argyll
I HAVE seen political arrogance writ large and untrammelled in the Scottish Borders.
Returning to my home on Saturday, I discovered what I thought was a piece of junk mail had been pushed through my letter box.
I was wrong. It wasn’t what I initially thought it was. Unfolding the paper, I realised that it was in fact a large A3 poster, expensively produced in full colour on quality glossy paper. On closer examination, I found it had in fact come courtesy of the local Tory party.
Given the inordinate space available, as it was printed on both sides, I might have expected it to come gloriously stuffed with pro-active information about Conservative policies and aspirations which would benefit and improve the lives of those of us domiciled in the Borders. I was wrong.
Instead, the content was totally devoted to the Tory fixation about the next referendum, while simultaneously bashing the SNP at Holyrood. Not one mention of policies. It was very disappointing!
Since there was such a dearth of policy substance included in this somewhat strange election communication, I concluded the following: A: The Tories are entirely devoid of any meaningful policies, or B: If they indeed have any, that they are so negative and nasty that they are fearful to commit them to print.
So there we have it here in the Borders. A Tory party which is so arrogant that it doesn’t feel obliged to spell out even one word about its policies in its election communication.
Perhaps I was right after all. It was just a piece of junk mail!
Bruce Maclachlan
Gavinton, Duns
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