We are having a little fun this week by asking the question on our website: Who is bonkers, Housing Minister Yvette Cooper or Oxfordshire County Council leader Keith Mitchell (now CBE, of course - congratulations Keith)?

There are many people who probably think Mr Mitchell is bonkers for many reasons, but for the housing quotas contained in the South East plan? We do not think so.

Our vote in the online poll is a resounding one for Ms Cooper.

The debate over housing in the South East has been going on for several years. A public inquiry into the South East plan has been undertaken and an independent inspector is drawing up a report to go to Ministers.

Of course, the Government will quite properly have a view on the housing figures contained in the plan. Its view ought to be coloured to some degree by the inspector's report, which has not been published and which Ministers have probably not seen.

The arguments are also not simply about how many houses should be built in Oxfordshire and the South East, they are also about what sort of improvements need to be made to infrastructure to support any given level of housing.

To reduce all these complexities down to a charge of 'bonkers' slapped on those responsible for the draft South East Plan is, well, frankly bonkers.

It is a classic case of party politics getting in the way of good governance.

There is a reasonable argument that Oxfordshire and the South East should take more houses in order to tackle the extreme pressure on homes in the region.

The irony is that by seeming to prejudge this whole process, the Housing Minister has set back her cause.