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A housing solution
On 18 June BBC One’s Morning Live looked at what is being done to address the problem of the one million empty homes in the UK. The program looked at one charity in Leeds, LATCH (Leeds Action to Create Homes), which works with the local council to identify and purchase some of the 3,000 empty homes in the area and renovate them for affordable rent. This also benefits the community by training and using unemployed people to give them construction skills which will make them more employable in the future.
Politicians from all parties talk about building more new homes – many of which will be unaffordable for first-time buyers and lower-income renters, but they seldom mention the fact that there are all these long-term empty homes which could be bought up and renovated. Sadly, they never seem to put forward suggestions as to how government could speed up this process and support local authorities in this.
I think this would be a worthwhile topic for Big Issue to highlight and lobby politicians with during the run-up to the election. Also, it seems a worthwhile project for Big Issue Invest to look at – if this has not already been done.
K Ward, Somerset
The borrowers
Over the past 70 years, Labour has borrowed much less than the Conservatives and repaid more of the national debt. In fact, Conservative governments have not made an annual budget surplus since 1904. I should add that Labour are the only party to have achieved this, on four occasions in six years from 2000 to 2006.
When Labour lost power in 2010 the national debt stood at a high £800,000,000. In 2018 the Tories had doubled this. That was before Covid. Now, after 14 years of Conservative government, it is more than three times the amount left by Labour. Why do the Tories have a reputation for being good with the economy? God alone knows.
Tony B, Axminster
Libraries give us power
Wonderful piece by Brontë Schiltz [When prison libraries break down walls, Issue 1619, 10-16 June]. It is so important for prisoners to socialise in a safe and friendly way and to improve their education.
