A Preposterous Corbynian Future Would Nationalise Our Homes
Three months ago it was preposterous to think that the Labour party membership would be so antagonistic as to elect a man to its leadership that would swerve them so far to the left that it would make Michael Foot look like one of Nigel Farage’s drinking buddies.
But happen, it has. And now that Corbyn is at the head of the second biggest political party in Westminster with an albeit vague shout for the top job in the land in 2020, what could this mean for the UK property market?
A Corbynian future would certainly see our energy companies, communications firms and transport returned to public ownership. He’s made that back-to-the-future pledge already. The rail companies, electric and gas conveyers would be swiftly consigned to mere articles in business text books and we would ‘look forward’ to British Rail, British Gas and perhaps even British Leyland, being resurrected from the nationalised dead. Ministers would be compelled to be chauffeured around in a 2021 model Austin Princess and would always be late for photo-calls because they’d broken down on the way. Same if they took the train really.
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This got me thinking about other matters literally even closer to home. With his apparent penchant for all things communistic, could Jeremy Corbyn as PM also move to nationalise our homes? After all, JC’s posthumous mate Mr Karl Marx once didn’t say something along the lines of ‘All property is theft’ but if he’d thought of it at the time, apparently he would have done.
Property ownership in the UK is a fundamentally ideological, aspirational thing. Buy a home and raise a family in it, yes, but it’s also equally about making a profit too. That’s simply what we do here. As my estate agent (biased) Grandfather used to say, ‘Safe as houses, boy’.
On the basis of socialism being the enemy of aspiration (isn’t that what such a standpoint argues for?) surely it follows that a Corbyn Government would ‘ban’ property ownership and would take our homes and reallocate them on the basis of ‘need’. So in other words, that family of 18 from Lincoln that’s been on benefits for years but has a requirement for multiple bedrooms and a decent garden, would be shipped in to Windsor Castle pronto and her Majesty and Phil sent up the A1 to live in their 3 bed semi?
Now, I don’t want to give Comrade Corbyn any ideas, but today’s political disappearance along that sharp left turn in the electoral road (surely) may well lead to things almost as preposterous.
Thankfully, whilst I believe that Jeremy Corbyn’s election will be great for the cut and thrust of British politics, I suspect today will mark the last election he will ever win.
