The Latest Breaking News from Harold Macmillan

The days when Harold Macmillan could disappear to the grouse moors for the summer are gone – but even prime ministers need a break, says Guardian columnist Martin Kettle

Aiming to reclaim his party’s role as the builders of “property-owning democracy”, Rishi Sunak used the Conservative manifesto launch to praise his predecessor Harold Macmillan. As Winston Churchill’s housing minister in the 1950s, Macmillan first set the target of completing more than 300,000 homes across the UK each year.

Ideas of exceptionalism and ‘laissez-faire’ policies are still driving economic myths that should be stone dead

The forthcoming election is the first to be held online