They own land! Give them money!

From The Lancashire Telegraph:

HYNDBURN MP Graham Jones has demanded more help for East Lancashire home owners whose mortgage is bigger than the current value of their property. He has asked junior housing minister Andrew Stunnell in the House of Commons: “What assessment have the government made of the level of negative equity in the north of England?”...

Labour backbencher Mr Jones then asked Mr Stunnell: “In its report on home ownership, Standard & Poor’s says that rates of negative equity in the North West and the North East are four times higher than those in London. Obviously those areas were disproportionately hit by the Government’s cuts, and unemployment is rising. There are hard-pressed families in these regions struggling to pay their mortgages. What help is the Minister going to give them?”

Liberal Democrat Mr Stunell said: ”I remind you that negative equity becomes a problem if people cannot pay their mortgage. Mortgages are affordable at the moment because of the fiscal and financial policies that this coalition Government are pursuing. I invite him to consider how many repossessions in the north of England would result if we had the bond rates of the Italians or the Spanish, and therefore how important it is for this Government to remain steadfast on their fiscal programme.”

There's a pleasing circularity to this sort of Indian Bicycle Marketing. Opposition and government alike take it for granted that protecting people who "own" land is one of the main duties of the government, they disagree merely on how best to achieve it.

The MP from the Red Wing of the Home-Owner-Ist movement lambasts non-existent cuts because they threaten the interests of "hard pressed homeowners"; the junior minister from the Blue-Yellow Wing justifies the non-existent cuts on the basis that they are needed in order to keep interest rates down to help "home owners". Tenants can f- off of course, they are of no interest to either wing.

The motto being, "Don't worry if you lose your job, as long as you can keep your house" whereas common sense says that people being in work is the most important thing, as long as everybody is earning money, they'll all be able to afford somewhere to live, whatever happens to interest rates.

Via Little Professor at HPC.