Thatcher’s policy did not result in cultural transformation, but statutorily mandated unfairness Daily Telegraph 04/10/26 Giving council tenants the right to buy their own council house was one of Margaret Thatcher’s great reforms. The Housing Act of 1980 gave millions the opportunity to own their own home for the first time. Even more significantly, it marked a significant unpicking of the post-1945 Clement Attlee settlement, the collectivist consensus that by 1979 had laid Britain low. Now Andy Burnham’s Government is dismantling Right to Buy . In his Labour Party conference speech last week, the Prime Minister announced an expansion of council house building and his intention to “reform Right to Buy. Not taking the right away from anyone in an existing home. But removing it from the new homes we build so they are there for generations to come”. This may well be a step towards its complete removal for all new social tenants in new-builds or otherwise. This comes on top of what ...
No 10 reveals plan for MPs to vote on policy during this parliament, despite Prime Minister pledging to keep it until 2030 Daily Telegraph 02/10/26 Andy Burnham plans to pass a law scrapping the triple lock before the next election. Despite the Prime Minister having previously said the policy would remain in its current form until 2030, No 10 has said MPs will vote on plans to reform it before the election. Mr Burnham announced his intention to abandon the commitment to link state pension rises to inflation, earnings or 2.5 per cent to fund free social care in his speech at Labour Conference on Tuesday. He pledged to end the triple lock following the next election, set to take place in 2029, at which point he would adjust it. But No 10 has now said the Government willThe announcement sets up a divisive debate in Parliament on the issue, and also means the next election will be a fight over whether other parties would keep Labour’s changes to the triple lock in place. Helen Wh...