[Omah]

Relaxed planning laws = bad building extensions, more speculation and less housing for those in desperate need.

The fundamental problem is not the planning system or Section 106 agreements for much needed affordable housing, it is the lack of confidence and demand in the economy, slashed public investment and the government’s failing economic plan.

The Local Government Association says it is a "myth" that the planning system was stopping house-building.

It released figures which show a backlog of 400,000 prospective homes which have planning permission but have not yet been built. It says these "conclusively prove" the planning system is not holding back development.

After a Budget for millionaires, spreading panic at the pumps, donor scandals followed by access scandals with News Corporation, the failure of Lords reform and boundary changes, and a reshuffle which changed nothing but the faces, we have this latest Tory farrago.