Government proposals to sell off housing association properties have been branded “hare-brained” amid warnings they will worsen the shortage of homes for more than a million Britons on waiting lists for affordable accommodation.
Boris Johnson is reported to want to grant 2.5m housing association tenants in England the right to purchase their homes at a massive discount, in an echo of Margaret Thatcher’s popular “right to buy” policy of the 1980s which saw a huge proportion of the nation’s stock of council homes sold.
Labour branded the plan “desperate”, pointing out that it repeats a policy from David Cameron’s 2015 Conservative manifesto which failed to deliver any sales.
And the chief executive of homelessness charity Shelter said the “hare-brained idea” was “the opposite of what the country needs”.
Earlier, a minister has rejected calls for an all-women shortlist to find a replacement for disgraced Tory MP Neil Parish. Universities minister Michelle Donelan said that female-only shortlists for parliamentary candidates are “demeaning” to women.
Boris Johnson to be interviewed by Good Morning Britain for first time in nearly five years
Boris Johnson is due to hold an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain show tomorrow for the first time in nearly five years.
“Susanna Reid is going to Downing Street and their interview will be live,” said presenter Kate Garraway, adding that it has been “1,790 days, nearly five years, since he last spoke to this show”.
The prime minister infamously was accused of hiding in a fridge in a bid to escape live questioning on the programme during an election campaign visit to the West Yorkshire dairy firm Modern Milkman in December 2019.
Ministers were also accused of boycotting the show for more than 200 days during the Covid pandemic, after frequent on-air bust-ups with former presenter Piers Morgan, who earlier tweeted:
Charities say government’s Rwanda plans failing to deter Channel crossings
The government’s plan to send migrants to Rwanda has done little to deter people from making the perilous journey to the UK, refugee charities have said – as 254 people in small boats were detected yesterday following an 11-day pause in such trips, with another 100 reportedly brought ashore today.
The government’s Nationality and Borders Bill – which makes it a criminal offence to knowingly arrive in the UK illegally and includes powers to process asylum seekers overseas – became law on Thursday.
The resumption of crossings at the weekend showed that “draconian policies enshrined in the Nationality and Borders Bill and their Rwanda deal are doing little to deter desperate people jumping on boats because they do nothing to address the reasons people come”, said Enver Solomon, chief executive of Refugee Council.
He called on the UK to have a “grown-up conversation with France and the EU about sharing responsibility”, adding: “We need a fair and humane asylum system, with means well thought-out, long-term solutions that address why people are forced from their homes, and provides them with safe routes to the UK.”
Care4Calais said that of the 64 people it surveyed, 87 per cent had heard of the plan and 75 per cent said “it won’t put them off crossing to the UK”, calling the plan “just another in a long line of deterrence policies announced by this government”.
Such sentiments were echoed by Pierre-Henri Dumont, French National Assembly member for Calais, who told the BBC: “When you leave your country because of flood, because of starvation, because you are not afraid of being hauled and sent back to another country, at least if you have a chance you will try.”
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Family feel ‘completely abandoned’ by Foreign Office as Briton faces death penalty in Iraq
The family of a British man facing the death penalty in Iraq have said they feel “completely abandoned” by the Foreign Office as sentencing approaches.
Jim Fitton’s son-in-law told The Independent it was a “cautionary tale” for British citizens abroad to not expect the department “to save you if you get into trouble outside of your control”.
My colleague Zoe Tidman has the story:
Tory MP: Too early to know if Rwanda policy is working
It is too early to know if the government’s Rwanda migrant policy is working, a Tory MP has said.
Tim Loughton, a member of the Commons home affairs committee, was speaking after 254 people were detected in small boats crossing the Channel to the UK on Sunday after an 11-day pause in such journeys.
“They are depressing scenes and they are going to get worse,” he told BBC Radio 4’s The World At One programme.
“It may seem a very robust, extreme scheme, but it is the first thing that has actually been put forward that would actually practically do something about this problem.
“People in the south and up and down the country are just sick and tired of these people smugglers making a fortune out of human trafficking, this misery coming across the Channel.
“The Rwanda scheme is an attempt to do something practical about it. But is very early days – it was only announced three weeks ago and it hasn’t started yet.”
Asda chief warns food prices could remain high for ‘some time’
Food prices will remain high for “some time” and the government should intervene to help struggling families, one of Britain’s most experienced retailers has said.
Lord Rose, Asda chairman, also accused the Bank of England and ministers of being too “slow” to react to rampant inflation.
He said: “We saw the signs last year that inflation was coming. I think the actions that have been taken to curb it have been a bit slow in coming.”
‘Misogynistic dinosaurs’ dragging down parliament’s reputation
It is a small minority of “misogynistic dinosaurs” who are responsible for sexual misconduct at Westminster, a minister has said.
Universities minister Michelle Donelan spoke to Sky News earlier about the wave of misogyny claims to hit parliament in recent days.
“These are misogynistic dinosaurs,” she said. “They do not represent the majority of members of parliament.
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Boris Johnson slammed over ‘hare-brained’ Thatcher-style plan to sell off housing association homes
Government proposals to sell off housing association properties have been branded “hare-brained” amid warnings they will worsen the shortage of homes for more than a million Britons on waiting lists for affordable accommodation.
Our politics editor Andrew Woodcock reports:
ICYMI: Tensions over cost of living surface, as Kwarteng sets face against ‘arbitrary’ windfall tax on energy firms
Cabinet divisions over the cost of living crisis have been exposed, as business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng argued firmly against an “arbitrary” windfall tax on energy firms just days after Rishi Sunak indicated he was ready to consider the move.
Our politics editor Andrew Woodcock has the story:
ICYMI: Tory MP in row over colleague’s sex assault conviction to quit parliament
A Tory MP who sparked fury by coming to the defence of a colleague found guilty of child sex assault has announced he will stand down from parliament at the next election.
Crispin Blunt was forced to apologise and resign as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on global LGBT+ rights after condemning the conviction of Imran Ahmad Khan as an “international scandal”.
Our politics editor Andrew Woodcock reports:
Starmer: Cooperation with France needed to tackle Channel crossings
The UK needs to work closer with France to solve the migrant crisis, the Labour leader has said while on the campaign trail in Worthing.
Sir Keir Starmer said: “Nobody wants to see anybody making that perilous journey across the Channel and everybody wants to crack down on the criminal gangs that are driving this.
“The best way to do that is to have an international co-ordinated criminal response.
“I have worked on international criminal organisations before when I was director of public prosecutions.
“I know what can be done if you’ve got teams working together across Europe all the way along those routes absolutely bearing down on these criminal gangs and working very closely with the French authorities as well.”
