If we could make just a small suggestion to Mr Gove?

At the weekend Mr Gove warned that young people shut out of the UK’s housing market could spurn democracy and turn to authoritarianism.

“If people think that markets are rigged and a democracy isn’t listening to them, then you get – and this is the worrying thing to me – an increasing number of young people saying, ‘I don’t believe in democracy, I don’t believe in markets,” he said.

There is indeed something perverse about people looking at British housing and thinking that too much market is the problem. But if this belief is strongly held by the Minister - that the young will turn to authoritarianism if something isn’t done - then our little suggestionette.

Have more market in British housing.

Since 1947, under the Town and Country Planning Act and successors, the British land market has been centrally planned. As happens with all planning systems as the decades pass the system becomes ever more constipated and in need of a thorough colonic irrigation. The situation is such that the system simply needs to be destroyed.

Create a market again in British housing - blow up the TCPA. Proper blow up, kablooie.

It’s the only language the bureaucrats understand, d’ye see?