Peter Rhodes on horses, house-building and Americans seeking divine help
I suggested last week that, because Britons tend to elect bland politicians, we don't get much of the blazing, snarling personal abuse seen among candidates in America. But I wonder if there may be a religious aspect, too.
Religion is a big deal in the States, while over here we are a nation of easy-going agnostics. So when it comes to electing politicians, we Brits are merely looking for managers while the Yanks are desperately seeking a saviour.
Brother Keir waves the banner high and serried ranks of British craftspeople roll up their sleeves and embark on the greatest housebuilding project in living memory. Their aim? To build 1.5 million new homes in the next five years.
The problem? Governments do not build houses. Housebuilders build houses. They build not to make politicians look good but to make a profit. And as every builder knows, the surest way to cut your profits is to build too many houses.
Far from cracking on at full speed, the building industry's target for new homes between April – June this year has actually fallen by more than a fifth from the same time last year. The National House Building Council describes the Government's 1.5 million target as “a mountain to climb.” Which suggests we might have to settle for a molehill.
However, don't blame builders for the shortage of houses. Blame a succession of idiots in Whitehall who, in the sacred name of “growth,” have allowed the population of the UK to rise by more than 11 million over the past 50 years. Where in heaven's name were they all supposed to live?
After two stampedes in London, one bitten tourist at Buckingham Palace and footage of a horse being whipped, one obvious question is this: why, 200 years after the invention of the bicycle, are there still so many horses about?
Frankly, I wasn't shocked or surprised at the video of Charlotte Dujardin whipping a dressage horse. Does anyone seriously think you can train an animal as big, strong and stupid as a horse to dance the hokey-kokey on a regime of carrots and kind words? Dammit, Dobbin, it's your left hoof in!
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