Reports such as this one http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jan/09/housing-crisis-tenants-shelter-private-rent on the housing crisis appear with alarming regularity. It is a complicated and highly political issue but it seems to me that it is more a matter of national priorities than of government action or inaction. We simply don’t put enough emphasis on the supply of affordable housing and the standard of living of those who are in need of it. At both the national and personal levels what do we want to spend our money on – basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter or other ‘needs’ such as nuclear missiles, foreign holidays, flash cars, Sky TV?
The government gets blamed but ‘in a democracy people get the government they deserve’ (Alexis de Toqueville 19th century French political thinker). Any ‘visitor from outer space’ would have to conclude that we are an odd lot.