NOT ENOUGH

THE only minister who showed any sign of believing in the government's plans to revive Britain's housing market on Tuesday was Hazel Blears, the ebullient and irrepressible Communities Minister. On the BBC's Today programme she admitted the new measures wouldn't change anything overnight but insisted that they could help many people who otherwise will have no chance of getting on the first rung of the housing ownership ladder. By contrast the Chancellor of the Exchequer was almost invisible during the day (chained to his desk?) and the Prime Minister was to be seen only in the tiny flat of a first-time buyer who hadn't even moved his furniture in. The point of publicising his occupancy was unclear since presumably he had signed the contract before the government's helping hand had been offered.

If this was Gordon Brown's re-launch after the summer break then it was more a damp squib than a lift-off. It is being said that a second stage rocket in the form of help for people hit hard by energy bills is in the offing but it will need to be much more impressive than the housing measures. To make these observations is not necessarily to criticise the prime minister because, as every one agrees, there is a limit to what the government can do in a market that must ultimately find its own level. There is a problem, however, by appearing to promise substantial help and then only tinkering with the problem.