Posts under ‘Housing’

Fall in construction output shows Osborne “recovery” has lost momentum

by Michael Meacher.

The latest economic figures revealing a shock fall in construction output of more than 1% between April and May this year are alarming, but might be brushed off as an isolated quirk if all the other evidence pointed the other way. But it doesn’t. The construction slowdown is matched by an unexpected slump in factory […]

The Coalition’s Last Stand

by Grahame Morris.

Dennis Skinner summed up the country’s mood when he declared the recent Queen’s speech to be the “Coalition’s last stand.” The Government set out their agenda for the next 12 months leading up to the general election. It was a missed opportunity, lacking the ideas, policy and ambition that is required to meet the challenges we face, […]

Housing: a modest proposal

by Jeremy Corbyn.

In launching Labour’s local election campaign last week Ed Miliband decided to emphasise the need for reform of private renting and tackling the cost of living crisis. In raising this issue he has triggered a welcome debate on housing in Britain. House prices in England are rising fast and in London faster than ever — […]

State ownership of rail is only the start

by Michael Meacher.

As the 31 Labour parliamentary candidates are demanding in their letter to Miliband, the case for returning rail to the public sector after the botched privatisation of 1996 is overwhelming. Private ownership has produced for the UK the highest fares in Europe, extensive overcrowding on commuter lines because of giving priority to dividends for shareholders over […]

Tories scrap affordable hones to protect house-builders’ profits

by Michael Meacher.

The Tories have a clever, though nasty, way of doing unpopular things. First they soften up public opinion by saying the current policy can’t be afforded any more. The Social Fund is too expensive, onshore windpower is too costly, affordable houses can’t be afforded any more. Then they try to find plausible reasons for cutting […]

Redistributing property empires of Britain’s ultra-rich families would be as popular as energy price freeze

by Michael Meacher.

Oxfam has just reported that Britain’s richest 5 families are wealthier than 12.6 Britons who make up a fifth of the entire UK population. The latest survey from Forbes magazine shows that these 5 fortunes are heavily based on property rather than entrepreneurial innovation. The families listed are those of the Duke of Westminster (who […]

Is the home ownership model outdated, and ready for the dustbin of history?

by Thomas Butler.

Let us set the scene. You’re a Labour government, it’s 2015, and you’re tasked with tackling economic instability, and health and social problems on a scale not seen in living memory. You need a grand idea, a pillar of policy that states your long term vision, that gives everything you do afterwards solid foundation, and […]

Young Labour demands wealth super-tax and scrapping of ‘right to buy’

by Newsdesk.

Young Labour’s first conference with written policy motions has seen delegates vote for radical measures to address the cost of living crisis and kick-start the economy. The two-day event in Bradford, which concluded yesterday (Sunday) voted to call on the Labour manifesto to include a one off  “super-tax” which would seize ten per cent of […]

Osborne says housing shortage to last a decade – try living that long in a B&B

by Michael Meacher.

It’s difficult to portray the contempt with which the Tories view the victims of this acute squeeze on housing. A large majority of the electorate believe the bedroom tax is wrong and unjust, yet when a UN special investigator on housing called on it to be withdrawn, a Tory housing minister excoriated it as a […]

‘Right to buy’ has brought Rachman back from the dead

by Michael Meacher.

Since the 1980s, when Thatcher introduced the ‘right to buy’, some two million tenants of council houses/flats have bought their homes, aided by discounts of up to £60,000. The market, however, has its own way of working. Instead of producing the acclaimed ‘property-owning democracy’, it has resurrected the evil practices of the 1950s and 60s. […]

© 2024 Left Futures | Powered by WordPress | theme originated from PrimePress by Ravi Varma