"Alan Gabriel" wrote in message ...
The walls are solid, plastered walls which the builders slapped a coat of
white emulsion on.

The previous owners papered the walls, which I have just removed. Great
patches of the paint came off with the wallpaper leaving bare plaster.

I want to repaint the walls but need to remove all the loose paint. What is
the easiest way to remove emulsion paint?

I had exactly the same experience. I used a combination of large
sander, and steam and scraping. On a wall that I was to paint deep red
I got away with not removing all of the paint.
NB. Make sure you prime / seal the plaster after you remove the
emulsion. (does anyone know the difference between priming and
sealing?).

Fool's Gold.