Iain Duncan Shady

Just when you thought the political debate during the election campaign had reached its lowest ebb, Iain Duncan Smith decided to rap some Eminem lyrics on Good Morning Britain.

He turned to the words of 2002 smash hit Lose Yourself to poke fun at Diane Abbott’s shambolic radio interview last week. Closed Circuit has some suggestions for the former work and pensions secretary if he wants to make better use of Marshall Mathers’ back catalogue.

How about Till I Collapse (I Can’t Claim Employment Support Allowance) or Cleanin’ Out My Closet (Because I’m Being Evicted)? Indeed, the latter’s opening bars: “Have you ever been hated or discriminated against? I have; I’ve been protested and demonstrated against,” may ring bells with Mr Duncan Shady.

——————————————————————————————————

A solution to the housing crisis has eluded the great and the good for many moons but that didn’t stop a group in the East Midlands from having a crack at it recently. The event, ‘Solving the Housing Puzzle’, was billed as a chance for sector leaders to fix the housing shortage.

Sadly, answer came there none. As Lindsey Williams, chief executive of Futures Housing Group, put it: “We weren’t able to solve the housing puzzle in a morning, but it was a great opportunity to discuss issues.”

Even Sir Michael Lyons, who has advised the government on housing, was only able to come up with this: “What we concluded at the end of a very lively session is that organisations in the region should not wait for the government to change. They should do what they can locally to make the difference.”

——————————————————————————————————

Which Premier League football team has seen house prices in its area rise the most over the past year?

The potentially surprising answer is the home of the mighty Clarets: Burnley FC. Burnley has seen house price growth of 13.7% to £80,605 in the year. North London’s mixed fortunes are reflected in property prices, with 9.8% growth putting Tottenham in the Champions League spots and -1.9% leaving rivals Arsenal at the bottom (or the other way around, depending how you look at it).

Closed Circuit doubts there will be much sympathy for the households of west London, where price fell 0.2% to a measly £771,882, but it is happy to see a table with Chelsea in the relegation zone.

Source: housesimple