Letter of the week: Anti-social housing policy

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Harry Lambert (Cover Story) and Anoosh Chakelian (Bursting the Bubble, both 11 July) have written excellent pieces that have an unexpected link. Jenrick cites Charles de Gaulle and Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew as key influences. Both these iconic right-wingers (especially Lee) believed in and built high-quality, state-funded social housing. Indeed, 80 per cent of Singapore’s residents still live in this public housing. Selling off more than a million of those flats and houses at a 40-60 per cent discount, and then forbidding local authorities to use the receipts to replace them, would have struck Lee as absurd.

Yet that is what Right to Buy has done in the UK and, in the process, it has created much of today’s housing and rental crisis. If Labour won’t close this Right to Buy black hole and build public housing to help Britain’s left-behind and Red Wall communities, perhaps Jenrick’s reinvented right will?
Robert Dear, London N14

Obstinate Bob

Harry Lambert reports Robert Jenrick was “furious” to not be made home secretary in November 2023, as “he was the one who knew the department” (Cover Story, 11 July). A month earlier, he was forced to scrap a plan to take over a four-star hotel in Llanelli, Wales. He ploughed on despite opposition from the council; he wouldn’t even meet the local MP to discuss residents’ concerns. On police advice, the plan was reversed, but Jenrick’s tin ear caused social division. Far from encouraging integration, his record is tough talk and divisive incompetence.
Lee Waters, Member of the Senedd for Llanelli

Frost bite

I like the feisty new spirit of the magazine (Editor’s Note, 11 July). The Labour go-to of watered-down Reform policy clearly isn’t working, and the journalism has been brave. Upsetting Lord Frost and the Daily Mail should be worn as badges of honour.
Rob Grew, Birmingham

Behind the rebellion

I have time a lot of time for Rachael Maskell (Diary, 11 July) so was very pleased to read the story behind the back-bench rebellion over the welfare reform bill. It was chaos, and she is correct to state that the notion of making life-changing decisions for sick and disabled people before the results of the Timms Review was unfathomable. You really couldn’t make it up – but it appears the government was, until the last-minute concession. The bill has been passed, but the retribution will continue. You bypass back-bench Labour MPs at your peril.
Judith A Daniels, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk

Overcoming boundaries

I was once fortunate enough to live on Britain’s first social housing scheme, London’s Boundary Estate (Bursting the Bubble, 11 July). The flat looked over the Arnold Circus bandstand, built on Arts and Crafts principles, incorporating craftsmanship in community spaces. The area’s rich cultural diversity is evident in the nearby Georgian chapel on Brick Lane. Built in 1744 as French Huguenot place of worship, it became a Methodist chapel in 1819, a synagogue in 1897 and, in 1976, a mosque serving the Bangladeshi community. Small wonder the members of far-right groups are in a lather about such social cohesion. Tower Hamlets still retains ownership of two-thirds of the Boundary Estate. And yes, Brick Lane’s Jamme Masjid is still a mosque. What’s not to like?
Austen Lynch, Garstang, Lancashire

No rowing back

Finn McRedmond’s account of her recent experience of Henley Royal Regatta (Vanity Fair, 11 July) was amusing. However, her description sounds more like the bad old days of the late-20th century, when the Regatta was wholly male and the event largely social in nature. The Regatta has achieved an equal balance between men’s and women’s events, including at junior level, from local club crews to Olympians. The event is now livestreamed, free of charge, so the races can be watched from the comfort of one’s own home without the tedium of following a dress code or packing a picnic. Rowing still has quite a way to go in terms of social and ethnic diversity, but over the past 20 years the Regatta has changed for the better, not only in sporting excellence but also in encouraging greater access.
Alison Salvesen, Oxford

Doctor at large

It’s great to see that Phil Whitaker is already established in British Columbia and offering valuable advice to Wes Streeting from there (Health Matters, 11 July). People with their eyes open always have something to offer wherever they are in the world.
Marina Marangos, Brisbane

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[See also: A question of intent]