Articles about ‘Housing’
Oct 12
Mr Osborne’s Problems with the Post
Poor old George Osborne. His government’s privatisation of Royal Mail seems to be hitting his own department even harder than the rest of us. Can you imagine – a letter he sent from his office in the House of Commons to another MP’s office took no less than five days to arrive? And guess what? The office which did not receive the letter for so long was mine.
Voting against the Bedroom Tax
I’ve been contacted by many local people who have told me that they are struggling to cope with the hated bedroom tax, introduced by the Tories and Liberal Democrats in Westminster. The Bedroom Tax is affecting over 13,000 households in Birmingham and over 1300 in the Northfield area alone.
People receiving housing benefit, who live in council or housing association homes with a spare bedroom, face a choice between paying £600 more a year or moving home. But as I know all too well from my constituents, there often is not the choice.
Ed Miliband Visits St Modwen’s Longbridge Development
Labour leader, Ed Miliband and Shadow Housing Minister, Jack Dromey MP for Birmingham Erdington, joined me on a visit to St Modwen’s development at Longbridge on Saturday (22 June).
Ed was here to see the progress being made in the area before making his speech to the National Policy Forum in Birmingham. Read more
Birmingham protest against the bedroom tax
On Saturday (15 May) I joined over 250 protestors outside Birmingham Council House to campaign against the bedroom tax. People receiving housing benefit, who live in council or housing association homes with a spare bedroom, face a choice between paying £600 more a year or moving home.
But as I know all to well from my constituents, there often just isn’t a choice. The truth is there aren’t enough smaller homes for families to move to – at least not at a price that people can afford. The real issue is the government’s failure to solve the housing crisis.
Labour would bring forward infrastructure spending in houses – to build more homes, create jobs now and strengthen our economy for the future. My message to David Cameron and the government is clear – stop taxing bedrooms, and build more homes.
Short but not sweet: Initial reaction to the Queen’s Speech 2013
Earlier today (8th May) was the State Opening of Parliament, where the Queen formally opens the new Parliamentary Session with a speech setting out the Government’s agenda and priorities for the next year.
Unfortunately as anticipated the Queen’s Speech, which was one of the shortest in years, failed to recognise many of the problems concerning real people. It was a stark reminder that this out of touch Conservative-led Government has its priorities completely wrong.
