Perhaps Claudia Sorin’s point might be better made if she was able to list some Labour-led councils that have successfully delivered affordable homes. 

For most us us, the example we think of is Haringey, where a Labour council’s admirable plan to build 6,000 such homes was recently brought down by Corbyn’s Momentum, who then bullied councillors and senior leaders out of their roles to pave the way for a hard left agenda that achieved nothing.

While Claudia might wish to score political points for Labour by claiming to be fighting for housing for working families, her arguments are none too credible in the face of such behaviour by the national Labour party. 

Indeed, many of us remember how unaffordable housing became under Labour, how tax credits were used to subsidise the wage bills of big business and how working families, now unable to qualify for mortgages, were driven into the hands of Buy to Let landlords, many of whom received housing benefit (more state subsidy of private profits). 

It will take a lot to convince me that Labour has my children’s best interests at heart. 

Affordable housing is a realistic goal only at national level. 

Far from being driven by population growth or immigration, house prices correlate most strongly with lending practices (which is why they fell between 2008 and 2013, until Osborne inflated the bubble once more with Help To Buy). 

Sadly, no political party seems willing to grasp this particular nettle. 

James Young
Weymouth