"Not since the days when the socialist government declared 'we are the masters now' has any measure more odious than this bill been presented to the House?."

This is the view of Hugh Rossi, the Conservative spokesman on Housing and Land, speaking about the Community Land Bill, a bill described by the Municipal Journal as 'probably the most exciting thing to happen to local government in decades' - and whose radical principles were regarded as a source of pride by John Silkin, the Minister for Planning and Local Government.

Gerald Priestland examines the bill and asks whether this attempt to give the people as a whole the benefit of the rise in land values is efficient and fair, or merely doctrinaire nationalisation.