Chancellors are not supposed to tell the whole truth. Of course, they shouldn’t lie, but being overly frank is not top of the job description.
In this respect, Alistair Darling had seemed the ideal resident for Number 11. A dour Scot, his eyebrows have hitherto been the most controversial thing about him.
But that all changed with his Guardian interview and the assertion that economic times were ‘arguably the worst they have been for 60 years’. It was an unwise choice of words, to say the least, and provoked a storm of criticism.
The subsequent run on the pound, and OECD confirmation that Britain is slipping into recession, did little to boost the chancellor’s reputation.
Darling’s hopes of a political renaissance now lie, at least in part, with the measures outlined this week to aid house buyers and homeowners. Many of these are sensible – such as the stamp duty holiday and mortgage rescue scheme – but they cannot perform miracles.
Ironically, after a decade focusing narrowly on private home ownership, ministers are looking to public housing for a solution now that the property market bubble has burst.
The government has set itself tough targets for house building and will struggle unless it involves local authorities much more closely. This week’s rescue package did include £400m to encourage more social housing. But councils without arm’s-length management organisations are unlikely to apply for the grants unless they can operate on a level playing field with registered social landlords.
Perhaps it’s time once again to review the borrowing restrictions facing local government and to consider removing social housing from the Public Sector Net Cash Requirement.
As Ken Lee, chair of CIPFA’s housing panel, pointed out in last week’s Public Finance, this would help to tackle the growing need for more social housing while not threatening the government’s sustainable investment rule.
It might court controversy, but Alistair Darling should be getting used to that by now.
