LETTER: '˜Right to Buy' '“ sheer bribery

Perhaps the most blatant act of bribery in modern political history was Mrs Thatcher’s carrot of the ‘Right to Buy’ which helped sweep her to power. To their eternal shame neither Blair nor Brown rescinded this act of stupidity, which since its enactment in 1980 has seen around three million council homes lost for ever.

Our political masters seem obsessed with the fallacy that what people want is to become home-owners: they do not. What most people want is a safe, secure home, which is well built and well maintained, and at a reasonable and affordable rent, ie as provided by council housing.

Mr Cameron is using our, taxpayers, money to aid his property profiteering pals with discounts which merely push property prices up and up, and do nothing to solve our housing shortage.

He even wants to flog off housing association accommodation, most of which, he should know, will end up in the hands private landlords and result in massive rent increments; short-term contracts, with no security of tenure. What he should be doing is promoting a massive build of council homes and removing the ‘Right to Buy’. Some chance.

Mike Thompson

Binsted Close

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.

1 Make our website your homepage at www.eastbourneherald.co.uk

2 Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/eastbourne.herald

3 Follow us on Twitter @Eastbournenews

4 Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!

The Eastbourne Herald - always the first with your local news.

Be part of it.