Is Labour about to create a new generation of council-owned ghettoes?

There is a fascinating article in The Times today. It claims that "Gordon Brown orders thousands of new council houses - (the) biggest building programme since the 1950s"

Interestingly, it seems that "Mr Brown has the support of Margaret Beckett, the Housing Minister, in pushing through new regulations.....but Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, is said to be resisting proposals that could add billions of pounds to public debt."

Good for Alistair, I say. This another example of the muddled and ill-thought out initiatives that Brown seems to spout every time he opens his mouth these days.