Rishi Sunak ‘facing pressure to speed up the building of new houses to win back younger voters’
RISHI Sunak is facing pressure to speed up the building of new houses to win back younger voters, senior Tories say.
The Prime Minister is being urged to reform planning laws after Labour vowed to build 1.5 million new homes within five years of taking power.
The call is part of fourteen new proposals launched by the Policy Exchange think-tank ahead of the King’s Speech to help boost the economy and cut crime.
Ex-Cabinet Minister Sir Brandon Lewis said the plans in the report would “expedite the delivery of badly needed housing and infrastructure in a material way”.
He added: “Adopting it would get the government back on the front foot when it comes to perhaps the most significant public policy challenge facing our country today.”
Housing is set to be a key battleground in the next election after the government watered down plans last year to build 300,000 new homes annually.
The government decided to get rid of the nationally-imposed targets after pressure from backbench MPs.
But Sir Keir Starmer put housing at the centre of his conference speech saying he didn’t want to stand in the way of new homes being built in local areas.
He also called himself a ‘YIMBY’ – Yes In My BackYard – wanting to bulldoze through local planning restrictions and even overrule his MPs blocking developments.
Meanwhile, Sir Simon Clarke also gave his backing to proposals to reform the planning rules for electricity networks to speed up the building of grid infrastructure.
Number 10 has also been urged to look at shifting from the energy price cap model to a more targeted cap for the most vulnerable customers.
Tory MP Miriam Cates also says parents must have an “absolute right” to know what children are being taught in schools.
She adds they must be given the right to seek a court order to stop schools teaching “age-inappropriate or politicised materials”.
She said: “No child should be socially transitioned behind their parents’ back.”
The dossier also calls on new minimum prison terms for prolific shoplifters and burglars which will increase deterrence and make a direct impact on cutting crime.