Election 2010 – Labour Party: ‘We’ll bring end to homes sell-offs’
Comeback manifesto for Labour hinges on winning back estates, but opponents warn government has failed tenants
Published: 1 April 2010
by RICHARD OSLEY
CAMDEN’S Labour Party will try and turn defence into attack and fight next month’s elections by campaigning hard on the thorny issue of council housing.
It was one of the weakest areas for the party at the last borough-wide elections, but Labour will nonetheless attempt to re-take Camden Council by trying to woo back support on the estates, with a promise to end the selling of council properties at auction.
In a manifesto launched on Friday night, Labour reached out to the council tenants who have traditionally supported them in Camden, but who appeared to desert them four years ago amid criticism over the party’s botched attempts to privatise the borough’s housing stock.
In a dramatic defeat, the party lost power in 2006 to a Liberal Democrat and Conservative coalition as support fell away in estate-heavy areas such as Kentish Town, Gospel Oak and Kilburn.
As they plot a comeback, local campaigners have been backed by Ed Miliband, the climate change minister who spoke at the manifesto launch in the Irish Centre in Camden Town and delivered sharp words for the current Liberal Democrat and Conservative coalition. It has embarked on a programme of selling council houses and flats on the private market to raise funds.
“The government is committed to building new housing, so the last thing we need is less council housing and for it to be sold off,” he said Mr Miliband.
The former Haverstock school student, considered a safe pair of hands to kick-start Labour’s local election campaign, said: “What Camden’s council tenants need is Labour councillors backing them at a time when there is such demand for affordable housing.”
Asked whether the Labour government had actually contributed to the local branch’s downfall in 2006 with unpopular national policies, Mr Miliband said: “I don’t know about that. We always learn from mistakes, but this is about looking forward, and you can see in this room the dynamic team that Camden has in place now. It’s a fantastic bunch of candidates”
Camden members will also arm themselves on the campaign trail with fresh comments by Housing Minister John Healey, who has come up with a new written demand calling on the Town Hall to “minimise” its sale of council homes.
Angry coalition leaders have already written back warning of mixed messages, pointing out that only six months ago Mr Healey wrote to them consenting to Camden’s methods of raising money for the housing department. With elections so close, he now stands accused of changing his tune to help the campaign.
“It is worth remembering that the Liberal Democrats were the only party who supported the policy of the fourth option of direct investment in council housing,” said Lib Dem leader Councillor Keith Moffitt. “We have come up with plans to make sure that all Camden’s properties meet the Decent Homes standards and we will continue with that. We’ve heard promises from the government before elections before so the timing of new announcements is suspicious.”
Cllr Moffitt and other senior councillors at the Town Hall are angry that Mr Healey appeared to sidestep them by writing directly to Camden’s Labour MPs, Frank Dobson and Glenda Jackson. The charge against Labour is that council homes are only being sold in the absence of government funding.
Labour members in Camden are nevertheless preparing for battle with housing at the top of the agenda.
The leadership has already vowed not to make partnership deals in the event of a hung council with any party that sells more council homes. It suggests money for refurbishing homes could be found from reviewing the commercial arm of Camden’s property portfolio.
Other manifesto promises include a commitment to keeping council tax low, stopping the privatisation of the caretaker service, speedily advancing plans for a school south of Euston Road, and providing new funds for community advice centres.
Mr Dobson admitted that he had previously worried that Labour would not have enough candidates to fight every ward in Camden’s council elections, but that the group had bounced back and was up for the fight.
The party has high hopes for new faces such as Tulip Siddiq in Regent’s Park and Angela Mason in Cantelowes, but it has also brought back into the fold a number of former councillors, including Peter Brayshaw, Phil Turner and Charlie Hedges.
In a stirring speech Ms Jackson told the hall: “I have the feeling that we can. What I’m getting on the doorstep is that people don’t want the Conservatives. They have some doubts about aspects of our party, but when you explain to them that if you don’t vote Labour, you will get the Conservatives, the whole mood changes.”