Beyond satire

In the Telegraph today, Emma Soames, editor at large of Saga magazine, begs Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary to spare a thought for second home-owners.

There are several hundreds of thousands British residents who would never have actually slammed down the money for houses in Europe if you hadn’t first torn up the rule book about how to run an airline.
...
So far, I have only managed once or twice a month for three or four days at a stretch

In the world of the Telegraph, we are supposed to take such whinges seriously but I still had to read it very carefully to make sure it wasn't satire. Neither O'Leary or Soames give a stuff for the damage it is doing to the planet for people to fly twice a month to second homes in France. Because they can do it and have done it, it has now become an inalienable right and we have to keep expanding airports to preserve that right.

Not in my (holiday home's) backyard

Steve Rider deserve all the stick he is going to get for objecting to a "social housing" development in the Devon village where he has a holiday home. It's quite astonishing that he has the nerve to do this. Does he not realise that it is second home owners who make housing unaffordable for local people in rural and seaside communities?

According to the Independent:

The debate has split residents of the village, in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with some second-home owners threatening to take their business elsewhere; others support the scheme, describing it as "vital for the long-term viability" of the community.

"Threatening to take their business elsewhere?" Outrageous.