UK: [PM] Brown aims for core vote with pledge to house local people first

The Times ^ | 6/29/2009 | Francis Elliott

[bruinbirdman]

A populist proposal on housing risks reviving the controversy over Mr Brown's "British jobs for British workers" slogan

Gordon Brown is to try to win back Labour’s core supporters with a pledge to give priority on housing waiting-lists to local residents.

A proposal to require councils to take account of applicants’ connections to the area when allocating homes is central to a policy blueprint. The populist measure risks reviving the controversy over Mr Brown’s call for “British jobs for British workers” .

A housebuilding programme is also to be announced today as Mr Brown seeks to regain the political initiative. Extra cash for social housing will come from a £500 million switch in spending, outlined in the new programme, Building Britain’s Future, The Times has learnt.

Resentment at needs-based rules under which newly arrived migrants are believed to be placed at the front of housing queues has long been cited by Labour MPs as eroding support among its core working-class voters.

Housing is an important issue in the Labour heartlands, with 1.6 million households on council waiting lists — four million people in England and Wales. In some areas, a quarter of households are queueing for a home.Disaffection among traditional Labour supporters was plain at the recent council and European elections, at which British National Party MEPs were elected. Mr Brown’s decision to oblige councils to give priority to those with local connections who have been waiting a long time is being dubbed “British homes for British people”.

Senior government sources insist, however, that the policy is consistent with a new emphasis on entitlement to key public services.

The measure will not require primary legislation, it is understood, but will be subject to consultation.

Other policies being announced today include guarantees of a maximum 18-week wait for a hospital appointment,

[GeronL]

desperation

[2banana]

Other policies being announced today include guarantees of a maximum 18-week wait for a hospital appointment,

ObamaCare - HERE WE COME!!!!!

[Viking2002]

'Resentment at needs-based rules under which newly arrived migrants are believed to be placed at the front of housing queues has long been cited by Labour MPs as eroding support among its core working-class voters.'

Amazing how the liberal multi-culti ethos quickly becomes NIMBY-ism when the affirmative action indulgences they ram down the throats of others suddenly shows up on their own doorsteps. Damned hypocrites.