The link below is to the recent speech made by Eric Pickles to the CBI.

http://planningblog.wordpress.com/2011/03/22/pickles-woos-cbi

I’m actually thankful for small mercies when reading this speech.  It’s the first time I’ve read anything where Pickles appears to blame the system he and his predecessors are responsibility for, rather than the poor bloody foot soldiers (the planners) for the problems he now perceives as the root of all our ills.

He and others might still be wrong with some of their suggested solutions (NHB, community plans, LEP, enterprise zones) , but at least he’s right about some of the causes.