Lib Dems gear up for housing battle on conference floor

Published

1 year ago

September 25, 2023

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The Liberal Democrats are braced for a fight at the party’s annual conference in Bournemouth today, amid a split over a plan to scrap a housebuilding target.

The current Lib Dem pledge is for 380,000 homes to be built each year in England – but Sir Ed Davey wants to change it to an annual target of building 150,000 council houses instead.

The party leadership also said they wanted to take a “new approach” to housebuilding plans, based on “robust, independently assessed local housing targets”, rather than imposing one across the country – a policy that could prove popular in the rural Tory seats the party is targeting in the next election.

But factions within the Lib Dems have hit out at the watering down of the target, and the impact it could have on people seeking to buy their first home.

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In its policy paper, the Young Liberals organisation said: “[We are] deeply disappointed that [the plan] seeks to reverse the party’s policy on a national target… and we do not believe this goes far enough or is ambitious enough to building more houses.

“If the motion remains unamended then YL opposes and encourages you to vote against.”

The group is also urging its supporters to wear T-shirts emblazoned with “build more bloody houses” to the debate, which will take place on Monday afternoon.

But there are also flyers circling the conference floor hitting back at the critics, saying: “The government’s had a national target for years, it’s the same old failed policy that caused this crisis.

“An unworkable, top-down target… won’t build a single home.”

Speaking at a conference fringe event on Sunday, Lib Dem housing spokesperson Helen Morgan said the debate over a need for a housing target was “a little bit of a distraction” from the overall goals of the party.

She told the crowd: “I think it’s really important to understand that the proposal that we’re making… doesn’t do away with any kind of target, but what it says is you need to build that target from the bottom up.

“The point of the proposal we’re making tomorrow is to build those targets from the bottom, and to say what’s your current level of need, what’s your proper forecasted future need, and that would be independently assessed, and it would be binding on those councils.”

Ms Morgan added: “A national target has never delivered the housing that we need, and we need to build a target which is locally derived and locally binding from the bottom up.”

But a councillor at the same event was heard saying ditching the aim would be an “abdication of responsibility” and warned against “fluffy local targets”.

Other elements of the policy also include a pledge to build 10 new garden cities, to bring in higher minimum standards for new builds, and to introduce a national register and minimum standards for landlords to help protect renters.

The Conservative government currently has a target of building 300,000 new homes a year, but the figure has been repeatedly missed.

It sought to make the number a legal requirement last year, but Downing Street abandoned the plan after threats of a rebellion from 60 of its own backbenchers.

Over the summer, Michael Gove – the secretary of state responsible for housing – laid out Tory plans to increase housebuilding.

He suggested easing development rules so shops and takeaways could be transformed into domestic properties more easily.

Mr Gove also put a focus on building on brownfield sites – previously developed land. Targeting of urban areas is thought to appeal to rural Tory voters.

But former housing secretary Simon Clarke said the plans would “take serious hard work to deliver” and his party would need to defeat NIMBYism (meaning local opposition to development – ‘not in my backyard’) or he added: “NIMBYism will assuredly defeat us.”

UK

M4 and M48 closed after human remains found

Published

2 hours ago

February 23, 2025

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M4 and M48 closed after human remains found

Two motorways have been shut after human remains were found on the road.

Several drivers reported a body on the carriageway between junctions 20 and 21 of the M4 – between Almondsbury and Awkley – at about 6.40pm this evening.

The body is believed to be that of a man in his forties, whose next of kin have been told.

A police investigation to establish how the person came to be on the motorway continues.

Parts of the M4 and M48 motorways near Bristol are likely to remain closed until the early hours of Sunday morning, Avon and Somerset Police said.

In a statement, the force said: “Police are keen to hear from anyone who was travelling along that stretch of the M4 has any relevant information or dashcam footage.”

The road closures were likely to cause significant delays in and out of Wales tonight, with closures starting on the English side of the Prince of Wales Bridge and the Severn Bridge.

National Highways said the M4 is shut in both directions between junctions 20 and 21, while the M48 eastbound is closed from junction 1 near Aust.

The links from the M5 junction 15 south to the M4 junction 20 west, and the M5 junction 16 north to M4 junction 20 west were also closed.

UK

Starmer asks US to stand by Ukraine with security guarantee as bad peace deal would be ‘disaster’ for all

Published

3 hours ago

February 23, 2025

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Starmer asks US to stand by Ukraine with security guarantee as bad peace deal would be 'disaster' for all

Sir Keir Starmer has urged Donald Trump to stand by Ukraine with a security guarantee as he warned a bad peace deal would be a “disaster for everyone”.

The prime minister is due to meet the US president for talks in Washington DC next week amid fragile relations between America and Europe after Mr Trump launched a verbal attack on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The US president called Ukraine’s leader a “dictator” on Wednesday and later said Sir Keir and French President Emmanuel Macron, both of whom will visit the White House in the coming days, “haven’t done anything” to end the war.

Sir Keir said a good peace “can only be won through strength” and Ukraine “must have a voice in negotiations about its future”.

And he warned that a “peace deal which does not stop Putin from attacking again would be a disaster for everyone”.

Writing in The Sun on Sunday, he said Kyiv needs strong security guarantees “so the peace will last” and America “must be part of that guarantee”.

This could mean providing air defence and a promise that the US will come to the aid of a NATO country if Russia attacks them, the paper reported.

So far, talks aimed at ending the war have been taking place between US and Russian delegations in Saudi Arabia, which have not included the Ukrainians.

UK Defence Secretary John Healey has said “any negotiations about Ukraine cannot happen without Ukraine. We all want the fighting to end, but an insecure peace risks more war”.

‘Turn the screws’ on Russia

The third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is on Monday.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said he will unveil new sanctions to “turn the screws” on Russia on Monday to coincide with the anniversary.

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Sir Keir also said the UK must increase its defence spending and play a bigger role in NATO.

And he is open to British troops playing a role in any European force in Ukraine after a peace agreement.

He added: “This is not something I say lightly.”

Sir Keir, along with other European allies and UK opposition parties, has backed Mr Zelensky as a “democratically elected leader”.

Also, Washington has warned that Europe must shoulder more of the cost of its own security.

Sir Keir is expected to use his upcoming trip to the US to confirm a timeline to raise UK defence spending from 2.3% to 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) in a bid to ease tensions.

It comes amid pressure from defence chiefs and opposition critics including Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who wrote to the prime minister on Saturday demanding he set out a plan for meeting the target.

:: Education secretary Bridget Phillipson, campaigner for global health and education Sarah Brown, and shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge will be discussing all the latest political stories in the UK and around the world on the Trevor Phillips on Sunday show on Sky News from 8.30am

UK

Girl, 3, dies after tram and van crash in Manchester city centre

Published

14 hours ago

February 22, 2025

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Girl, 3, dies after tram and van crash in Manchester city centre

A three-year-old girl has died after a collision between a tram and a van in Manchester city centre.

The girl was taken to hospital but died from her injuries, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.

“No arrests have been made and inquiries are ongoing,” the force said.

The child was a pedestrian and was not travelling in either the tram or van, GMP said.

The fatal collision happened on Mosley Street shortly before 10am, a Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) spokesperson said.

“All of our thoughts are with her family and loved ones at this incredibly difficult time. We are supporting police with their investigation,” a statement said.

A North West Ambulance Service spokesperson said two ambulances, a rapid response vehicle and two air ambulance crews attended the scene.

TfGM said there was continued disruption across the Metrolink after the incident and advised people to check the Bee Network website and app for the latest travel information.

Manchester‘s Bee Network said: “Due to a road traffic collision on Mosley Street in the city centre, no tram services are operating between St Peter’s Square and Piccadilly Gardens.”

An X post from GMP’s traffic officers said: “Our officers are currently in attendance at a collision, involving a tram and another vehicle in Manchester city centre.

“We are presently trying to establish the circumstances however we envisage there will be a lengthy closure of surrounding streets near to St Peters Square.”