Supposedly, the point of Thatcher's 'right to buy' programme was to increase working-class home ownership. (Though realistically, it means renting from the bank rather than the council.) However, councils weren't allowed to use the proceeds to purchase new housing stock. With 1.8 million households on the waiting list, it now takes about 5 years to get into a council house. So, the Lib Dems are keen to do away with the right to buy, and the Tories are going to review it.
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition ... but we have known for ages that former inquisitor and now pricey-red-shoe-wearer Das Pope is coming. Lo! He hath now cometh down in his infalliplane. The Church Mouse presents edited highlights of day 1, and all the cool cats are following Riazat Butt on twitter. Kelvin Holdsworth points out that the Pope has taken the same route through Edinburgh as last year's gay pride parade, which tickled me greatly.
And while we're in a papal mood, here's Gary Wills' Stealing Newman on the NYRblog. I'm no Newman expert by any means, and what I don't get is: if he was hung up enough on apostolic succession to decamp to Rome, why would he then be such a fierce critic of Pius?
I just can't think of any segue from Cardinal Newman to Boris Johnson. Play along at home and invent your own. Anyway, the Boris Bikes have landed in London. Partly sponsored by Barclays, they are an invitation for anti-bank graffiti (maybe this is what the Real IRA mean?).
In other subverting The Man news, the black economy apparently notched up £42billion in tax avoidance last year. I don't know how they actually tell. Apparently folks at home should all feel guilty that their piffling rorts have caused the Dread Cuts. This is of course nothing to do with bank bailouts or the use of tax havens by corporations like a certain supermarket. Eileen from Grimsby, paid under the table for babysitting one Friday a month, you've brought the nation to its knees, you 'ave.
