STEPHEN GLOVER: Only on Question Time could they debate migration and the ... trends now
Everywhere one looks young people seem unhappy. They also almost certainly detest the Tories more than ever.
They have many grouses, most of them legitimate. Top of the list, according to polls, is the shortage of affordable housing, which is most acute in London and the South-East.
The young justifiably lament that it's so much harder for them to get on to the housing ladder than it was for their parents and grandparents. The cost of renting even a modest flat has soared in real terms.
No surprise, then, that the number of young people intending to vote Conservative in the next election is vanishingly small.
Nor should there be any surprise that Labour is planning to cash in on their disenchantment. It has vowed to loosen planning laws, which are said to be too restrictive.
Wes Streeting reacting to Policing minister Chris Philp appearing to confuse the countries of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Question Time
Policing minister Chris Philp appears on Question Time to discuss migration last week
Sir Keir Starmer has promised that, if elected, Labour will build 1.5 million new homes over five years, which equates to 300,000 a year. This is somewhat higher than the Tories' recent record. Last year about 240,000 new dwellings were constructed in England.
Whether Labour really will fulfil its target is doubtful. After all, the Tories aimed to build 300,000 new homes a year and have fallen short, though not for want of trying. It's not easy to find the space to build enough houses where they're wanted.
Nevertheless, many young people will go along to the polling station at the general election in the belief that the shortage of decent accommodation, caused by incompetent, uncaring Tories, will be reversed by that nice Sir Keir Starmer.
The young don't generally ask themselves the following question. Is there a reason — aside from Tory failings — that helps to explain why the housing crisis is much worse for this generation than for previous ones?
If one compares the 1970s with the past decade, one finds broadly similar levels of housebuilding. And yet 50 years ago the young didn't grumble about the expense and shortage of homes in the way they do now.
W hat has changed, of course, is population growth, which is largely driven by immigration. Over the past 20 years the population of England has rocketed. People arriving here need somewhere to live.
That uncontrolled immigration has been a major cause of the housing crisis is barely acknowledged by most young people, who tend to be far more relaxed about mass migration than older folk.
There was an illuminating example on BBC1's Question Time last week of this widespread reluctance to connect very high numbers of new arrivals with our housing problems.
The programme was aired from Tottenham, North London, and the audience was ethnically diverse, as well as unsympathetic to the Government. If there were any Tories present, they certainly kept their heads down.
One subject of debate concerned Rwanda. It expanded into a general discussion about immigration. A member of the panel, Victor Adebowale, the chairman of the NHS Confederation, dwelt on the 'benefits of migration', and suggested that wanting to curtail it might be racist. His remarks provoked enthusiastic applause.
Several contributions from the audience, black and white alike, were strongly critical of the Rwanda scheme, and supportive of immigration. The two Tories on the five-person panel — journalist Charles Moore and Government minister Chris Philp —
