The Tories go to war with their own voters Even before he was appointed minister of state for planning last autumn, it was apparent that Nick Boles was spoiling for a fight. He had previously described opponents of looser planning controls as "hysterical, scare-mongering latter-day Luddites." Last week, Mr Boles told a reception of property developers in London that there would be a further loosening of planning rules to help unleash the building boom the Government is keen to see. He added that he was prepared for an "acrimonious battle with countryside campaigners." However, his difficulty is that this fight is not with small, unrepresentative pressure groups but a great chunk of rural England. The people he sees as the principal impediments to fulfilling his policy ambitions are largely country-loving, conservative-minded Tory voters. They recognise the imperative for economic growth but equally understand the need to balance its pursuit with protections against untrammelled development. The Government's difficulties are compounded by its own policy in favour of local decision-making. Striking a proper balance in the planning system between the competing demands for land was supposed to have been the function of the new planning framework agreed last year. Now it seems Mr Boles wants to tear it up before it has even had a chance to bed in. There can be no reason for this other than to override local objections to planned developments - the complete antithesis of the supposed devolution of powers. We are all familiar with what is at stake here. Housing in this country, and especially in the South East, is expensive, too few new homes are being built and young people are increasingly unable to afford to buy a place in which to live. But this is not so much a function of the planning system as of the depressed nature of the economy. George Osborne tried to address the latter in his Budget last week by giving the market a shove with questionable pledges to underwrite deposits and help with mortgages. As we report today, emboldened by the Government's rhetoric, councils have been inundated with applications for new building projects from developers. Battle is about to be joined just as the Tories seek to defend many of their local authorities in the county council elections in May. If Mr Boles wanted a fight, it looks like he is going to get one. But the politics of this issue are toxic and civil war in the shires is not the most promising manifesto on which to base a campaign. At a time when the Conservatives are already unpopular it is either brave or foolhardy to pick a fight with their own people.