Furthermore, build more houses

 

When a resource gets too scarce because supply isn't meeting demand, it can have many knock-on consequences.

Reasons to build more houses:

1. Putting a roof over your head is an outgoing, and as such should be as cheap as possible. If you want an investment, invest in the stock market.
2. It would reduce the state's housing benefit bill, and possibly reduce the pressure to increase public sector wages.
3. It would give people choices. They might wish to reduce their need for job security, or take a job that is more interesting but pays less well.
4. Unlike HS2, it would help alleviate London centrism.
5. Equality of opportunity - the most imporant one. Children shouldn't need an inheritance from their parents to get anywhere in life. Perhaps that could be stressed to NIMBYs who want to protect the size of that inheritance.
6. Buy-to-let landlords are growing fat and lazy. They need help for their own good. 
7. Tax or student loans wouldn't seem so expensive.

It would be great if we had an MP that ended every speech with "furthermore, build more houses".

TV licence and iPlayer

I wrote to my old MP a while ago:

I write referring to the government’s intention to close the "iPlayer loophole”, by widening the requirements for a TV licence.

According to the culture secretary John Whittingdale, "When the licence fee was invented, video on demand did not exist. And while the definition of television in the legislation covers live streaming, it does not require viewers to have a licence if they watch BBC programmes through the iPlayer even if it is just a few minutes after transmission.”

When the licence fee was invented, it was impossible to prevent freeloading, so the obvious solution was a compulsory telly licence. However, now it is certainly possible to prevent people consuming streaming media unless they’ve paid for it or can otherwise prove they’re entitled. There are technical solutions that the BBC could readily deploy.

Increasing the amount of legislation should always be the last resort. I would have hoped that a Conservative government instinctively understood that sort of thing!

And received some platitude about the technical solution not being deemed the best option (obviously).

Now when I open the Android iPlayer it tells me "you will soon need an account to watch iPlayer".

If they're introducing an account system, it nearly completely undermines the need for legislation. So is it going to be repealed?