The Labour party has had a busy 12 months. For the party, the change of leader, away from Tony Blair and the ‘era of spin’ to Gordon Brown’s ‘honest policies and desire for real change’ has dominated much of the party agenda.
Brown has already moved away from Blair’s legacy and has indicated that he is willing to back-track on a number of key decisions made by the previous Prime Minister, including reversals on the 24-hour drinking rules, and the reclassification of cannabis among other drugs. Brown has also tried to devote less time to overseas issues, and has instead used the Labour party conference in Bournemouth to focus his thinking on issues affecting the UK population, be it health, education, finance, or transport. However it is the subject of housing and the mortgage market, that Brown and his Chancellor, Alistair Darling, have committed most of their attention.
Affordable housing
In his speech to Labour members, Brown admitted that the government had more to do to help aspiring buyers and he has extended the Open Market HomeBuy scheme and made promises to increase the number of affordable homes available to first-timers and key workers.
Brown also pledged to increase the number of available properties, with plans to build an extra three million properties by 2020.
Speaking at the Bournemouth conference, the Labour leader admitted that the situation facing aspiring buyers was in need of urgent review. He said: “I’ve met too many young couples who’ve told me, ‘we work hard, we save, we play by the rules, we want to get on and yet we can’t afford to buy or even rent our first home’.
“So we plan to help first-time buyers and we will increase house building to 240,000 new homes a year – in places and ways that respect our green spaces and the environment. My aim by 2010 is two million more home owners than in 1997.
“For affordable housing and for social housing we will now invest £8 billion. This will mean a 50 per cent increase in funds for social housing.”
However, he admitted that his plans would not work without the help of all the political parties and housing associations, and said: “I call on all housing associations and councils of all political parties not only to support shared equity for first-time buyers, but to help us build more social homes for rent, more homes for key workers and more homes to cut the unacceptable levels of overcrowding.”
Speaking about the continued hurdles facing first-time buyers, Housing Minister, Yvette Cooper, added: “Your chances of becoming a home owner should not depend on whether your parents or grand parents were home owners before you.
Never again should we tolerate the housing apartheid that decades of new development delivered in Britain.”
Chancellor under fire
However, while Brown has been quick to call for improvements for key workers and first-time buyers, much of Darling’s time as Chancellor has been taken up with the credit crunch, and the position of Northern Rock. Darling admitted early on in the debacle that the crisis could be his political epitaph, despite him only being in the job for a matter of months. He admitted that lessons had to be learned from the Northern Rock situation, and insisted that changes would be made to protect borrowers and savers.
He explained: “My job is to protect ordinary savers. So we need to strengthen protection for ordinary savers. To give them confidence. Ensuring their savings in a bank or building society are guaranteed. It’s been difficult. But we will come through this because we have built a strong and stable economy.”
Early election?
Another issue that dominated the agenda of the Labour party conference was the speculation of an early election, which has refused to die down. Since being confirmed as party leader and Prime Minister, Brown has made concerted efforts to move away from the era of spin, and indicators suggest that moves have been put in place for a snap election, that would see Labour seek to make the most of the advantage it currently has over the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties in the polls. However, while the party under Brown is different, it remains the case that many of the general public are sceptical of Labour due to the Iraq war, and the refusal to offer a referendum on the adoption of an EU constitution.
If a snap general election is to be called, Brown will have to continue his ‘charm offensive’ and seek to detail the differences between Blair’s Britain and Brown’s vision of Britain. The pledge to improve home ownership and affordable housing should drive the party forward but the pledges need to be manageable and achievable, an area in which politicians often fall short.
