Councils have, with one or two exceptions, an appalling record on building new homes. Labour-run Westminster City Council all but eliminated intermediate housing for young professionals so that they could build more homes for those trapped on welfare.
We must get on and select Council candidates now. Labour-run Westminster Council is trying to double the service charge on council housing. Crippling households with tens of thousands of pounds of debt.
Billions are spent. Yet many young people are still not in Employment, Education or Training.
At city and borough level, I have noticed Labour has become less willing to attend meetings with residents.
The one concrete commitment is a promise to build one and a half million homes during this Parliament. How they are going to do so remains opaque.
Complaining about “austerity” since 2010 has become the first five or ten minutes of every conversation within local government. If only more of that time had been spent coming up with innovative solutions.
We risk writing off any youngsters who do not have pushy parents. A little stick and a lot of carrot will be needed.
Both parties are predicting an historic low voter turnout , with the apathy party the likely winner. I don’t want to predict the result, though I am emboldened by doorstep conversations.
Countries like Saudi Arabia give every adult a plot of land on which to build a home. In the UK roughly half the cost of a home is the cost of the land.
Given the lessons he could have learnt from Houchen, Street, and Burnham, there is really little excuse for Khan not to be doing significantly better.
One of the biggest myths propagated by public sector unions is that it’s cheaper to employ a council officer – complete with a gold-plated final salary pension and a hugely generous set of terms and conditions – than a fixed-term interim on a higher annual salary.
When the number of crimes in London has reached over one million a year, it is clear that the situation is out of control. The Mayor just offers gimmicks.
Andy Street has pursued a brownfield-first policy, with the only exception being around the new High Speed 2 Solihull Rail Station.
The localist idea that decisions should be taken as close to the people they affect as possible, has been undermined by the Mayor of London’s failings.
Hammersmith Bridge has now been shut to cars for three and a half years. While money goes on gold-plated pensions, trade union facility time, and TfL’s nominee passes perk.