I WAS very interested by the speeches made by shadow chancellor John McDonnell and Jeremy Corbyn about the shortage of housing this week.

But do we have a shortage of housing, or do we have a shortage in London and the South East? House prices in London and the south are too high because of the large number of job vacancies there and the high cost of public transport.

The cost of commuting into London is too great.

Only a commitment to move as many jobs as possible out of London and the South East will begin to redress some of the market forces which are driving up house prices.

We should move all departments of government out of London and the South East.

There is no legal reason why parliament has to be there either.

London is a great city driving the national economy. Building 100,000 new homes annually in London would not even begin to redress the scale of the market forces at work here.

Where exactly would you put these new homes? How would you even find the fresh water to service new houses in the South East?

Nigel Boddy, Darlington