Grant Shapps on Radio 4's Today programme this morning trailed his proposals for the "most radical and fundamental reform of social housing" which he will be announcing in parliament later this afternoon.
I always smile a little at a government minister going into broadcast media the morning of an announcement, when he can't go into detail.
But you're damned if you don't and you're damned if you do. And he (Mr. Shapps) could hardly pass up the chance of getting first shot at communicating the reforms.
And he was at great pains to assure current social housing tenants that this wouldn't affect them (rather charmingly telling them to "go away and make a cup of tea" and not concern themselves) which, in a twinkling, gave some idea of the number of different interest groups that will need to receive a tailor-made message on this stuff.
We look forward to hearing the detail later today but, however that is framed, there will clearly be a major need to communicate this properly to all the various audiences.
And, given the history and the baggage, the vested interests concerned, it is tough stuff to communicate.
Hares will be set running. But we do need a proper debate on this very acutely. Preferably one not fuelled by hysteria. Whatever the "tough love" elements of the government's new social housing programme, it is clear that current social housing policy has not been solving the problem - has simply not been taking people out of poverty - and that we need new models.
So we will see, later today, what is in store. We will see.
In the meantime, how best to introduce these models? As David Whelan (author of the highly diverting "Funderbolt" blog on regeneration funding on the UKR website; guys, I would certainly recommend it) suggests "if the problem is one of 'difficult to understand' language or the inability for us in the UK to talk to each other, then perhaps Government should release future legislation on 'Face Book' or 'Twitter' and establish Forums (as UKR has done); I hear even bankers, investors and developers use these new forms of communication."
It is interesting that Mr Shapps has always been a doyenne of social media. He has an impressive e-mail database for his constituency and is energetic in his campaign to communicate with his residents virtually and in reality.
He is famously a proactive Tweeter and is known to respond to industry blogs in a constructive and positive sort of way.
He will need to deploy all his techniques to best effect on this subject of social housing reform. And he needs to lean on his friends now, to help this debate be heard.
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