Labour leadership hopeful Owen Smith yesterday pledged to build 70,000 new homes a year in London to help tackle the housing crisis.
The MP claimed both the prime minister Theresa May and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn shared “unambitious” housing targets which fell well short of what was needed.
He said at least half of all the new homes would be affordable to help struggling young people and families in the capital.
But his promise set him at odds with colleague Sadiq Khan, who has refused to make a commitment on numbers since winning the mayoral election.
Khan had suggested he was committed to building at least 50,000 homes a year but now says it is more important to build “the right sort of homes”.
Smith, outsider in the race against Corbyn, attacked the Tories’ record as he set out plans to lift housebuilding to its highest level for 50 years.
He vowed to boost housebuilding by 300,000 new homes a year across the country, including 150,000 social homes, for the next four years.
He said: “Young people and families in London are facing soaring rents and are locked out of home ownership.
“The Tories are planning to kill off social housing for good by extending the right-to-buy and flogging off council stock — we need a strong opposition to take them on and stop them.”
Former Labour leader Ed Miliband has urged his party to back Owen Smith in the effort to topple Jeremy Corbyn.
In a campaign video posted on YouTube, Miliband hailed the Pontypridd MP as a “colleague and friend” and said Labour needed a “progressive leader who can unite the Labour Party”. He said: “Owen Smith is my choice for Labour leader...
I hope he will be yours to.”
He added Smith was capable of “reaching out to all areas of the country” and slammed prime minister Theresa May who he said “speaks the language of the left, [but] could push the country further right”. Miliband also said that while he was leader between 2010 and 2015, Smith would urge him to “push further and be bolder”. Endorsing the hopeful’s plans for leadership, should he beat Jeremy Corbyn in the race, he went on to praise Smith’s plans to up government spending on the NHS and to introduce a new £200mn British deal.
Signing off, the former leader claimed it was Smith’s “vision, principles and ability to lead” that had won his backing.
Last week leadership rivals Corbyn and Smith squared up in their first head-to-head clash in the race to lead the Opposition.
Major boost for Jeremy Corbyn as Labour members win high court battle over leadership vote Smith said the party was failing to provide “credible opposition” while Corbyn was in charge as the men came to blows in Cardiff during a televised debate.
But Corbyn hit back by blaming Mr Smith and others for undermining the party when a string of shadow cabinet ministers resigned in protest against his leadership.
Owen Smith
