The Scots should be grateful to Maggie Thatcher

The Scots should be grateful to Maggie Thatcher

Gosh - I feel brave writing that.

Saying anything positive about Maggie Thatcher or saying you might vote "No Thanks" to Independence, are 2 things designed to bring on the hate mail here in Scotland

Yesterday our wonderful Scottish nationalist government  won a vote to stop people buying their council houses (social housing). This was something started in 1980 by Maggie and because of it, approximately half a million people in Scotland now own their own home, having bought their council house. Scotland’s population is approximately 5 million - so that is about a tenth of the population.

If you consider that the average household is more than one person then that percentage becomes 20 to 25%
In other words a possible 25% - one quarter of households - now own their own home because of Maggie

In Scotland, owning your home is a big thing – perhaps because of the history of the Clearances or perhaps because the Scots are a fiercely proud race who resent being beholden to anyone.

What Maggie did was to give hard working people on low incomes a chance. That chance has now been taken away. Those people will now be forever trapped in rental accommodation or in social housing.

The nationalists say – quite rightly  - that there is a shortage of social housing stock, and that to continue selling it off is making the matter worse. This is true.

Maggie’s plan was to allow tenants to buy their council house (social housing)  but  -for every house sold another was to be built. No government after Maggie’s has done this.
This is the problem

Many thinkers and philanthropist and social reformers over the years have agonised as to the best means to improve the lot of those in lower socio-economic groups.

When much of Scotland was mainly rural /agricultural, tied housing was provided on the farm/estate. There was no security – the family could be evicted at a moment’s notice.

Rented properties in urban areas were often in the hands of unscrupulous landlords who charged extortionate rents for poor quality properties with no security of tenure.

Now -

Those who own their property – perhaps with the help of a mortgage – also pay each month – but at the end - they own their property – there is security  -and the money they pay goes towards something for themselves

Whereas -

Those living in rented properties (social, rental or private) pay rent all their lives and have nothing to show for it at the end - and they have no security.

Maggie Thatcher – a grocer’s daughter – knew this. She understood that buying your own property was a way out of the poverty trap – a way of moving up the socio-economic ladder and improving things for you and your family.

The policies of the nationalists will keep those at the bottom of the socio-economic pile in that position forever.

I hope that at least those 500,000 Scots and their families, who now own their own homes, will be grateful to Maggie