Speaking from the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth, Emily Thornberry welcomed Gordon Brown's appeal to local councils such as Islington to work with the Government to build more affordable housing.
Emily Thornberry recently wrote to the leader of Islington council asking him to put party differences aside and work with her to make use of the money on offer from the Government for new affordable housing. So far, Islington Council has refused to take up the Government's offer to build more affordable housing for the 13,000 families on the waiting list.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown MP said:
"For affordable housing and for social housing we will now invest £8 billion. This will mean a 50% increase in funds for social housing. I call on all housing associations and councils of all political parties not only to support shared equity for first time buyers, but to help us build more social homes for rent, more homes for key workers and more homes to cut the unacceptable levels of overcrowding. Good homes to rent and buy for the British people."
Emily Thornberry said:
"We all need to work together to build the affordable housing Islington families need. Islington Council should listen to what Gordon Brown said, and agree to work with us to start building serious amounts of affordable housing."
Gordon Brown's comments come only a week after figures released by the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, showed that for the last three years Islington Council has fallen well short of the much-discussed 50% affordable housing target.
In his speech, Gordon Brown also set out policies in a number of areas including health, education, crime, pensions and climate change.
Notes
"I've met too many young couples who've told me - we work hard, we save, we play by the rules, we want to get on and yet we can't afford to buy or even rent our first home.
So we plan to help first time buyers and we will increase house-building to 240,000 new homes a year - in places and ways that respect our green spaces and the environment. My aim by 2010 two million more homeowners than in 1997.
And for the first time in nearly half a century we will show the imagination to build new towns - eco-towns with low and zero carbon homes. And today because of the response we have received we are announcing that instead of just 5 new eco towns, we will now aim for ten eco towns ---- building thousands of new homes in every region of the country.
And for affordable housing and for social housing we will now invest £8 billion. This will mean a 50 per cent increase in funds for social housing. I call on all housing associations and councils of all political parties not only to support shared equity for first time buyers, but to help us build more social homes for rent, more homes for key workers and more homes to cut the unacceptable levels of overcrowding. Good homes to rent and buy for the British people."
