There will be no congestion charge, no pay per mile, no London-style ULEZ expansion for as long as I am Mayor.
Birmingham has 861 council homes. It also has 3,658 empty council garages – many of which could be replaced with much needed housing.
A belief in the family and in property rights are basic to Conservatism. Christmas highlights their importance.
Yesterday’s announcements comprise a Heath Robinson machine of carrots, sticks, guidelines, exemptions, and assessments – and even he doesn’t predict they will deliver anything like the numbers required.
The current system adds friction to the labour market, encourages inefficient use of housing stock, and all but exempts a huge share of this country’s wealth from the taxman.
This was in response to Camilla Tominey asking “Do your colleagues need to stop being NIMBY and be more YIMBY?”
The key problem is stagnation. Margaret Thatcher’s reforms promoted mobility and opportunity. Now we are an economy which doesn’t change enough.
Those who claim the Conservatives would benefit from a spell in opposition to ‘rest and detox’ are misguided. My first nine years in Parliament were spent in opposition, and it was a frustrating experience.
The industry has committed to direct £100 billion into infrastructure such as energy generation, power networks, and housing. Politicians from all sides should want to see these measures become law.
We need to be keeping the conversation going about how to fund London Councils so they can tackle homelessness more easily and provide better adult social care and health outcomes.
We are empowering communities to say ‘no’ to those tenants who ruin neighbourhoods. They realise we will evict troublemakers where we can.
The elements that came together to see a Conservative elected Mayor in 2008 – a national mood turning against Labour, a near-celebrity candidate in the as-yet-untarnished form of Boris Johnson, and a radical and increasingly unpopular incumbent – are not currently at hand.
Monday’s speech and today’s announcement show them choosing their ground for the next election. And since Hunt may find no money for further tax cuts next spring, the option of a May general election is opening up.
Conservatives in other countries have managed to make housing a key plank of a winning platform. Our party still has a chance to do the same.