The apparent aim of the Treasury was to stimulate the fragile housing market, restoring the volume of sales and preventing an outright collapse in prices.

But Darling has achieved precisely the opposite by hinting at reductions in stamp duty yet refusing to confirm them.
At a stroke he has destroyed the rationale for buying property.

It was already weak in a falling market with restricted mortgage availability. But now the remaining prospective buyers have, quite understandably, decided to sit on their hands in the hope of saving thousands of pounds in stamp duty later in the year.

Sales are collapsing across the country, throwing family plans and finances into chaos.

There will be no return to order until the Chancellor makes a detailed statement on what concessions he is planning and when they will come into force.

Yet, quite absurdly, Darling is insisting he will not announce this until the
pre-Budget report in late autumn.

That is a completely bone-headed and unsustainable stance which aggravates his original idiocy.

Every day that passes without the Government coming clean on changes to property market taxation will propel Britain closer to a recession that will destroy livelihoods and see good people facing the nightmare of repossession.

In causing untold damage to one of the most sensitive and psychologically important parts of the economy, Darling is further demonstrating that he is unfit to hold his office.

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